Passing of P Bourdieu

[Richard J. Senghas]

[In case you hadn't caught word.... -RJS]

Pierre Bourdieu, French thinker and social activist, dies at 71
KIM HOUSEGO, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, January 24, 2002
©2002 Associated Press

URL:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2002/01/24/obit
uary0221EST0446.DTL

(01-24) 23:21 PST PARIS (AP) --

Pierre Bourdieu, an internationally renowned French sociologist and
philosopher who ventured outside the academic world to join protest
movements, has died of cancer, his publisher said. He was 71.

Bourdieu, whose works dealt with subjects from the 1960s social upheavals in
France to the influence of television and the media, died Wednesday at a
hospital in Paris, the Seuil publishing house said.

Later in life, Bourdieu was involved in the struggle against social
injustices, supporting striking rail workers, students and the homeless. He
also joined anti-globalization protests and once said he believed "sociology
is a combat sport."

Many of the nation's top politicians paid tribute to Bourdieu, and Prime
Minister Lionel Jospin described him as "a master of contemporary sociology
and a great figure in the intellectual life of our country."

In a statement, Jospin said he was the pioneer of "a school of thought
devoted to piercing criticisms of capitalist society."

Jose Bove, the French farmer-turned-activist who ransacked a McDonald's
restaurant in a 1999 anti-globalization protest, told France-Inter radio
that Bourdieu "was an active sociologist ... who shed light on the reality
of our society."

Bourdieu was born in 1930 in the Bearn region of southwest France. He lived
for many years in Algeria, where he studied traditional farming and ethnic
Berber culture.

Much of Bourdieu's early writing focused on culture and education. He argued
that success in school or society depended on an individual's ability to
conform to the social ethos of the dominant class.

Other works touched on literature, politics, poverty and gender inequality.
In 1997's "On Television," he described TV as a "symbolic instrument of
oppression."

Since 1981, Bourdieu had held the chair of sociology at the prestigious
College de France.

©2002 Associated Press
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