Habitus is Bourdieu's concept to describe how social structures shape individual dispositions and practices. Critics argue it remains too objectivist and deterministic. This document examines habitus through the example of Chinese trade unionists. It finds unionists' habitus is shaped by historical and structural conditions that emphasize reliance on political authorities. Their deepest beliefs premise the conviction that the union is led by the Communist Party. Their mission perception sees the union as powerless without the party. As a result, in their daily practices unionists loyally accept their subordination to the party through their internalized habitus.

1. v
Habitus and the
Practical Logic of
Practice
METU Faculty of Architecture Department of Industrial Design
ID501 Advanced Project Development in Industrial Design
Cengiz Hakan Gürkanlı

2. KEYWORDS

3. • Confusion in Bourdieu‟s formulation of habitus and its
understanding of others.
• Critics charge Bourdieu with remaining objectivistic and
determinism-reductionism.
• This article provides two level interpretations.
– 1st Habitus Theoretical Status and Value
– 2nd Show how in its current formulation usage.
INTRODUCTION

4. Bourdieu speaks of transcending the false objectivist-subjectivist
antinomy.
Supporters claim successful marriage of phenomenological
social constructivism (PSC) and structuralism.
But he is not for Lau Raymond because his methodological and
theoretical positions in direct opposition to PSC. (Casual and
genetic analysis, construction, reality, objectivity) by calling
them transcendence.
Habitus Theoretical Status and Value
1st
Fig 4: A synthesized framework for understanding multiple musical creativities integrating the
theories of Csikszentmihalyi (1999) and Bourdieu (1993).
Source: (Burnard 2012, p. 223)

5. Lau Raymond: Habitus is stricken with inconsistencies and
ambiguities.
To overcome them he argues with reference to Merleau-
Ponty and Husserl.
Habitus should be conceptualized, not as corporeal
automatism, but as practical sense emergent, in critical
realist sense, from experience.
Show how in its current formulation usage
2nd
Merleau Ponty
Pierre Bourdieu
Edmund Husserl

6. Supporters of the Bourdieu claim the marriage of PSC and
structuralism in his transcendence.
Such as “SULKENEN(1982) “ Devising a valuable working
compromise between structure-function and subject
meaning.”
WACQUANT(1992) “Social praxeology which weaves
together a “structuralist” and a “constructivist” approach.”
Also Bourdieu labelling his theory as “structuralist
constructivism, constructivist structuralism”
Bourdieu does make use of several key phenomenological
concepts, but his self-labelling notwithstanding.
His project is directly opposed to PSC both
methodologically and theoretically.
HABITUS AND PRACTICAL LOGIC OF PRACTICE

7. • Methodologically PSC is purely descriptive
method which refrains from any causal or genetic
hypotheses (Berger & Luckmann 1967)
• Bourdieu deals with causal and genetic he critics
PSC precisely for excluding the economic and
social conditions of the natural attitude (1977).
• Theoretically Berger and Luckmann 1967 state: „
As man externalizes himself, he constructs the
world into which he externalizes himself. In the
process of externalization, he projects his own
meanings into reality.
• Social structure is the sum total of typifications
and of the recurrent patterns of interaction
established by means of them.
PHENOMENOLOGICAL SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIVISM

8. • Bourdieu specifies 3 different senses for the word “ RULE”
1. More or less explicit codes (marriage rules, law)
2. Objective regularity
3. The model or principle constructed by the scientist. (Mistake
for the real principle of practice)
• How can behavior regulated without being the product of
obedience to rules (in the 1st sense)?
• Bourdieu speaks of regularities produced by constraints of two
types.
1. Incorporated ( habitus)
2. The objective
• The aim of Bourdieu is to specify the mechanisms link between
structure and practice regularities.
• He states that marriage is not simply a set of ritual acts signifying
by their difference in a system of differences but a social strategy
BOURDIEU RELATION TO STRUCTULASIM

9. • Ideological and political instances emerge horizontally
from the economic but remain vertically explained by it.
• Similarly habitus emerges horizontally from its structural
conditions.
• The distinction between internal/necessary relations such
as that between two atoms of hydrogen and one of
oxygen in water and external contingent relations such
as that between water and air temperature.
COLLIER (1989, 1994) NON-REDUCTIONIST CONCEPT
• Structural conditions are internally related.
• Individual’s life occurrences and social milieu are
contingently related.
•
• Effects of these contingent relations are the equation of
how habitus works.
•

10. 3 KEY CONCEPTS ARE INVOLVED
CORPOREAL (pre-objective and being in the world body
contact with nature. In short pertains to motor skills.)
COGNITIVE (Reflective sense mediated from the corporeal
or experience in general. Science involves doing things to
nature. Microscope i.e. Manipulation of equipment
required in many sciences involves motor skill. Eq itself not
based upon that skill. Scientific apparatuses are structured
on the basis of theory. Reflective cognition. )
PRACTICAL (Not in form of “I know that” but o a practical “I
know how”. The practical is non-reflective cognitive sense
emerging from experience. Some experience is corporeal
but much social experience is not. Practical is non-
corporeal. )
Habitus is most appropriately understood in terms of the
category of the practical. It is not bodily motor skill, but
non-reflective cognitive sense.
HABITUS
1
2
3

11. TWO SIDES OF HABITUS
STRUCTURED STRUCTURE
– Sometimes involves reflection but mostly non-
reflective sense may become conscious.
• Ex: Low class couple.
STRUCTURING STRUCTURE
– Concern practices generated by dispositions.,
mostly non-reflective
HABITUS
HABITUS
HABITUS

12. 3 CATEGORIES OF HABITUS
FUNDAMENTAL BELIEFS
Unthought premises or taken for
ungranted assumptions,
PERCEPTION AND APPRECIATION OR
UNDERSTANDING
DESCRIPTIVE AND PRESCRIPTIVE PRACTICAL
SENSE OF OBJECTIVE POSSIBILITIES
HABITUS / LAU RAYMOND
HABITUS
CULTURAL
CAPITAL
1
2
3
Strategy is more suitable to analysing
the practices of those possessing
capital and/or power.

13. All systems are stuffed with
unified pool of cadres with
party wielding `nomenklatura
*inner party` control.
THE HABITUS AND PRACTICES OF CHINA’S UNIONISTS
134 million members in
1,713,000 primary trade
union organizations.
CCP comprises various
systems – party, the
administration, mass
organizations and unions.
In the enterprise 3 systems are
headed by the Party secretary, The
manager, The union chair who is half
grade below the other two in rank.
The Union chair is elected by workers.
But actually appointed by party.
Unions are under dual-leadership.

14. HISTORY OF THE UNION
All-China Federation of Trade Unions
(ACFTU) Tasked to ensure labour
discipline and act as parent authority
for the workers.
1950 two ACFTU leaders were
successfully purged for syndicalism .
Afterwards unionists refer even the
minute‟s daily operational issues to
the party.
1950
1920
1978
In the factional struggles of Cultural
Revolution, the ACFTU dissolved until
its restoration in 1978.
1950
In 1980‟s dual leadership over the
union is relaxed.
Since 4 June 1989, union operational
autonomy has become a dead issue.
1989

15. EXAMINATION OF THE UNIONIST HABITUS AS MECHANISM
Vertically explained through
historical-structural-institutional conditions.
Political culture reliance upon parent
authorities.
In one municipal district and
administrative department
overseeing 30 enterprises
formed itself into a corporation
which was managed by a
branch of the local party
committee.

16. A branch member-cum-veteran
unionist was assigned as the
corporations union chair
He related a case 25 workers lost a
labour dispute court against
management.
Regarding the workers case as
groundless, he commented: In the
end, we won.
“we” as referring not so much to the
management as to the state
managerial corps as a whole.
In another case, foreign investor
owed the workers 4 month wages.
The unionist was given the investor‟s
list of debtors, and successfully made
use of his connections as a cadre to
chase up most of the receivables.

17. EXAMINATION OF THE UNIONIST HABITUS AS MECHANISM
As agreed the investor used the half
of it to partly pay off the workers. The
unionist feared potential unrest, but
his taking upon a managerial task is
incomprehensible unless viewed in
the light of the “WE” identification.
Belief premise consist of the
conviction that the union is led by it.
Belief Premise concerns the unionist
view of their misson.
Belief premise is the unionists‟ self-
definition. All cadres come from the
same pool, many are party
members.
1
2
3

18. 1
The first lies in the deepest non
reflective layer of the unionist habitus.
It never surfaced directly
The second belief premise is the most consciously
help probably because the party leadership is a
value stressed also in the formal and informal
training of cadres.
Belief was not articulated directly. It‟s
non-reflectively sometimes even
quasi-reflectively.
Another one is the unionist reliance
on the party.
is the ubiquitous sense of the unions
powerlessness a consequence of the
party's policies both past and
present.
2
UNIONIST
MISSION
PERCEPTION
APPRECIATION

19. UNIONIST
The union is a pauper union,
management regards you as
superfluous, workers see you as
useless. “Superfluous” because
the cost is now seen as
unnecessary; Useless because
without revenue the union lacks
funds, for instance to help needy
workers.
Can you
oppose?

20. LAU RAYMOND: They loyally accept their
subordination in their daily practices,
generated non-reflectively by their very
own habitus.
THANK YOU!