Fields and networks: correspondence analysis and social network analysis in the framework of field theory

Abstract

Pierre Bourdieu advocated relational thinking and a relational methodology. Nevertheless, he rejected social network analysis as a suitable technique for analyzing fields and he prescribed correspondence analysis. There are no fundamental technical differences between the two methods: social network analysis can produce spatial diagrams that are very similar to correspondence maps. Bourdieu's problem with network analysis concerns the kind of relations that should be analyzed: objective relations instead of the interpersonal relations usually studied in social network analysis. This paper discusses the differences between the two types of relations and it argues that interpersonal relations mediate and transform the effect of objective relations. Network analysis is needed for investigating this process, which may help to further integrate Bourdieu's field theory and theory of practice.