Bourdieu's Metanoia: Seeing the Social World Anew

Bourdieu once commented that what was needed was a ‘new gaze’ on the social world – a metanoia. This book describes this view and how to do it. Based on biographical detail and the socio-political contexts which surrounded him, it sets out his vision of society and culture.

Grounded on the distinction between traditional and modern worlds, it shows how ethnographic experience led Bourdieu to an intellectual epiphany. It demonstrates the growth of his conceptual tools and the emergence of ‘fi...