critical evaluations of his work, notably papers by Rodney Benson, 4 Rogers Brubaker, Nick Crossley, and John Myles. Indeed, it is the 1985 article by Rogers Brubaker that can truly be said to have served as one of the best introductions to Bourdieüs thought for the American social scienti?c public. It is for this reason that we include it in the present collection. Intellectual origins & orientations We begin by providing an overview of Bourdieüs life as a scholar and a public intellectual. The numerous obituaries and memorial tributes that have appeared following Bourdieüs untimely death have revealed something of his life and career, but few have stressed the intersection of his social origins, career trajectory, and public intellectual life with the changing political and social context of France. This is precisely what David Swartz¿s ¿In memoriam¿ attempts to accomplish. In it he emphasizes the coincidence of Bourdieüs young and later adulthood with the period of decolonization, the May 1968 French university crisis, the opening up of France to privatization of many domains previously entrusted to the state (l¿état providence), and, most threatening to post-World War II reforms, the emergence of globalization as the hegemonic structure of the 21st century. An orienting theme throughout Bourdieüs work warns against the partial and fractured views of social reality generated by the fundamental subject/object dichotomy that has plagued social science from its very beginning.

Pierre Bourdieu's influence on intellectual life shows no sign of abating. Bourdieu was a prolific and respected scholar whose impact can be measured by the Social Science Citation Index and international surveys of academics. Many of his observations, opinions and insights are now embedded in the basic vocabulary of sociology and anthropology. Whether or not they agree with him, serious scholars are obliged to test themselves against his challenges. This book presents a sampling of the most recent and durable of the ongoing conversations, debates, and research orientations that Bourdieu launched.

Introduction: Drawing inspiration from Bourdieu.- Introduction: Drawing inspiration from Bourdieu.- Intellectual Origins & Orientations.- In memoriam: Pierre Bourdieu 1930-2002.- Rethinking classical theory.- Pierre Bourdieu and the sociology of religion: A central and peripheral concern.- Pierre Bourdieu: Economic models against economism.- Culture and Fields.- Cultural capital in educational research: A critical assessment.- Forms of politicization in the French literary field.- Media meta-capital: Extending the range of Bourdieu's field theory.- Economics as a Cultural and Social Domain.- Flesh and the free market: (On taking Bourdieu to the options exchange).- On the wealth of nations: Bourdieuconomics and social capital.- Culture and Politics.- Haunted by the specter of communism: Collective identity and resource mobilization in the demise of the Workers Alliance of America.- Bourdieu's political sociology and the politics of European integration.- From critical sociology to public intellectual: Pierre Bourdieu & politics.