Habitus: An Attempt at a Thorough Analysis of a Controversial Concept in Pierre Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice

Abstract

This work focuses on the approach to and analysis of the concept of habitus, and on tracing its relationship to the concept of practice within the framework of Pierre Bourdieu’s ‘theory of practice’. Based on these determinants, we attempted a thorough approach to the concept of habitus. Within the context of epistemological clarification we considered it essential to draw attention to its genealogy and the course of its development. Bearing in mind too the large number of discussions the controversial concept of habitus has provoked in the field of social sciences, we attempted to make reference to the most important relevant critical approaches. In the article’s concluding observations, the concept’s indisputable contribution to and influence on the field of social sciences is demonstrated, as is the notion that Pierre Bourdieu’s constructed concept of habitus attempts to put an end to fundamental divisions in sociology such as: objectivism-subjectivism, individual-society, conscious-unconscious.