The State Nobility
Elite Schools in the Field of Power
1. Auflage Februar 1998
504 Seiten, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
In this major work, Bourdieu examines the distinctive forms of
power - political, intellectual, bureaucratic and economic - by
means of which contemporary societies are governed. What kinds of
competence are claimed by the bureaucrats and technocrats who
administer our societies? And how do those who govern come to gain
the recognition of those who are governed by them?
Bourdieu examines in detail the work of consecration which is
carried out by the educational system - and especially in France by
the grandes écoles. The work of consecration can be
seen in operation in different historical periods, whenever a
nobility is produced. Today the socially recognized groups function
according to a logic similar to that which characterized the
divisions between high and low in the ancien régime.
Today this state nobility is the heir - structural and sometimes
even genealogical - of the noblesse de robe which, in order
to consolidate its position in relation to other forms of power,
had to construct the modern state and the republican myths,
meritocracy and civil service which went along with it.
Bourdieu examines the mechanisms which produce the kind of
nobility displayed by those who govern, and the recognition granted
to them by those who are governed by them.
Translator's Note.
Prologue: Social Structures and Mental Structures.
Part I: Academic Forms of Classification:.
1. Dualistic Thinking and the Conciliation of Opposites.
2. Misrecognition and Symbolic Violence.
Part II: The Ordination:.
1. The Production of a Nobility.
2. A Rite of Institution.
3. The Ambiguities of Competence.
Part III: The Field of the Grandes Écoles and its
Transformations:.
1. A State of the Structure.
2. A Structural History.
Part IV: The Field of Power and its Transformations:.
1. Forms of Power and their Reproduction.
2. Establishment Schools and Power over the Economy.
3 Transformations in the Structure of the Field of Power.
Part V: State Power and Power over the State:.
Notes.
Index.
there to hold us to the vision and divisions of criticism,
detachment, reason, truth ... [This book is an] enormous addition
to his vast architecture." Times Higher Education Supplement
"This is a book ... which presents a stimulating argument."
Sociology
"If you wish to understand how France's grandes
écoles have achieved such influence you need look no
further than The State Nobility ... characteristic
combination of original concepts, innovative analysis and a huge
array of empirical evidence ... strongly recommended." British
Journal of Sociology
"Both The Rules of Art and State Nobility are
dazzling examples of the way in which Bourdieu imposes order on an
overwhelming wealth of empirical material ... these books represent
important developments in Bourdieu's thought and confirm his status
as one of today's most stimulating and bold sociological thinkers."
European Journal of Social Theory
