The concept of field as methodological tool

Abstract

Bourdieu created the concept of field, taking his inspiration from Weber, in order to analyse cultural production. Later he extended it to highly varied realities. In this extension, the concept showed great methodological advantages, but lost precision. Furthermore, Bourdieu combined the Weberian antifunctionalist methodology with a critical version of classical functionalism. In this article we evaluate the virtues and limits of the concept. Using Weber, we show the advantages of the concept for analysing cultural production. Combining Norbert Elias with an analysis of Dobry and Mann, we evaluate the usefulness of the concept for analysing, from a non-functionalist perspective, state organizations. Analysing the dynamics of autonomization of the fields, we specify the meaning of autonomy. We conclude by proposing a delimitation for applying the
concept to particular social domains.