Pierre Bourdieu. L’intérêt au désintéressement. Cours au Collège de France (1987-1989)

Abstract

This review examines Pierre Bourdieu's lectures at the Collège de France between 1987 and 1989, compiled in the book L’Intérêt au désintéressement (2022), edited by Julien Duval. These lectures represent Bourdieu's first foray into the analysis of the State, exploring state legitimacy and power through a negative approach that investigates interest and disinterest within various production fields that seek to sustain a universal discourse. Bourdieu examines the legal field, the bureaucratic field, and even the field of Sociology to understand the construction and maintenance of state power. He argues that the rationalization of the State involves a symbolic dimension, where state power is upheld by a system of beliefs and practices that confer legitimacy to state institutions. From this analysis, it can be derived that the modern State can be understood as a meta-field capable of imposing its norms on other social fields, creating a complex network where universality and disinterest are simultaneously constructed and valued.