This is the fifth year that this student-reading group is run. The group started in 2016 as it was identified among PhD students that none of the modules offered by the doctoral programme was addressing the work of Pierre Bourdieu, which is highly associated to the Western field of sociology of education. We have read different books - "An invitation to reflexive sociology" (1992), “The Inheritors" (1979) and “The State Nobility” (1996) -, “The Reproduction” (1977) as well as a series of papers addressing current issues on education using a Bourdieusian theoretical framework.

The reading group is designed for students at different stages of their PhD interested in uncovering Bourdieu´s research and theory applied to education. This academic year’s summer term reading group will focus on in-depth reading and discussions of Bourdieu’s book ‘Outline of a theory of practice’ (1977). The book is recognised as a major theoretical text on the foundations of Bourdieu’s conceptual notions, such as habitus, field, capital and doxa. In this reading group, Bourdieu’s key concepts will be discussed with regard to their implications for current research on education, encouraging the group’s participants to think about the possible intersections with their thesis and/or other research experiences.

Participants do not need to have previous knowledge of Bourdieu. The only requirement is to read before each session and bring all your notes and questions so we can then all together discuss the reading. Everybody is welcome!

For more information, including session breakdowns and key (online) readings, please see the course description page.