habitus

habitus
A set of acquired dispositions of thought, behaviour, and taste, which is said by Pierre Bourdieu (Outline of Theory and Practice, 1977) to constitute the link between social structures and social practice (or social action). The concept offers a possible basis for a cultural approach to structural inequality and permits a focus on the ‘embodiment’ of cultural representations in human habits and routines. Although seen as originating in the work of Bourdieu, the concept was first used by Norbert Elias in 1939. Anthony Giddens attempts a similar task with his concept of ‘structure’. The best exposition will be found in Richard Jenkins's Pierre Bourdieu (1992).

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