Bourdieu Hits Brussels: The Genesis and Structure of the European Field of Power

Cohen, Antonin

doi:10.1111/j.1749-5687.2011.00137_3.x

Cited by 28 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…Cohen 2007;Dezalay and Garth 1996;2002;Georgakakis 2009;Georgakakis and Weisbein 2010; articles in different special journal issues such as Retfaerd -Nordic Journal of Law and Justice 2006;Law and Social Inquiry 2007;International Political Sociology 2011). While these studies make implicit or explicit reference to Bourdieu's writings on the state and his conception on the field of power, this analytical framework is seldom made explicit (Cohen 2011). For this reason, we find it worth clarifying the guiding principles in those of his state writings that have provided a 'starting-point' for these studies.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Transcended power of the state: the role of actors in Pierre Bourdieu's sociology of the state

Arnholtz

Hammerslev

2012

Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory

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Pierre Bourdieu's writings on the state consist of a series of more or less coherent investigations approaching the state from different angles. His writings on the state may seem to contain internal ambiguities. On the one hand, they argue for an actor-centered approach to the state while, on the other hand, elaborating the power of the state as an institution transcending these actors. The purpose of this article is to reconstruct Bourdieu's understanding of the state in order to examine if the opposition between these two apparently opposite approaches are in as sharp contention as they first appear. The article starts out by discussing how Bourdieu has approached the state through his broader sociological approach and concepts. Afterwards it outlines the state formation processes lying at the foundation of the state's power. Next it focuses on his special emphasis on the actor strategies that lie behind the emergence of the bureaucratic field. It moreover discusses Bourdieu's analysis of the abdication of the state in contemporary France. Having discussed the analytical potential of Bourdieusian studies of the state by focusing on the case of the European Union, the article concludes by arguing that Bourdieu's analysis is aimed at embracing the opposition between a focus on the state and on actors. The transcended power of the state is established in the conflict between the interests of actors, but gradually acquires an autonomy that goes beyond these interests.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Transcended power of the state: the role of actors in Pierre Bourdieu's sociology of the state

Arnholtz

Hammerslev

2012

Distinktion: Journal of Social Theory

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“…The study does not support a narrow delimitation of the field, which only includes organisations that are recognised by the EU or which have their offices in Brussels (cf. Cohen, 2011). Such a narrow delimitation makes it doubtful whether the field has any autonomy at all from the Commission.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Before this book, there were at least five different uses of field theory in European Studies, whether they focus on global integration theory (Fligstein and McAdam, 2012), transnational public policy field (Bigo, 2007), weak fields built in transnational networks of professionals (Vauchez, 2008;Vauchez and de Witte, 2013), an ongoing field of Power (Cohen, 2011;Kauppi and Madsen, 2013), EU milieus, staff and professionals as a political field (Kauppi, 2005) or as a bureaucratic field (Georgakakis, 2013). Among these different studies inspired or coming from field theory, it seems relevant to bridge the contribution of this book to a broader picture of the EU as a bureaucratic field since there are clear points of comparison and links to build.…”

Section: From the Bureaucratic Field To The Field Of Eurocracymentioning

confidence: 99%

EU Civil Society

2015

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“…struggled over the very definition of the institutional framework (and therefore dominant capitals) of this yet loosely defined transnational space (Cohen 2011). These struggles finally resulted in a complex structure of differentiated but intertwined international organizations-the Western European Union (WEU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the Council of Europe (CoE), the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), and the European Economic Community (EEC)-institutionalizing an international division of labor that was not originally intended as such by anyone.…”

Section: The Elites Of the Emergent European Field Of Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

The Social Construction of Law: The European Court of Justice and Its Legal Revolution Revisited

Cohen

Vauchez

2011

Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci.

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This review explores the social construction of a European rule of law. It runs counter to most legal and political science scholarship which considers such transnational constitutional order to be the direct outcome of the European Court of Justice's judicial fiat in a couple of revolutionary decisions from the 1960s. Drawing from the theory of fields as well as from the sociology of legal professions, the review suggests an alternative account of this legal revolution as embedded in a complex legal and political struggle over the nature and future of Europe.417 Annu. Rev. Law. Soc. Sci. 2011.7:417-431. Downloaded from www.annualreviews.org Access provided by University of Nebraska -Lincoln on 02/03/15. For personal use only.

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Bourdieu Hits Brussels: The Genesis and Structure of the European Field of Power

Cited by 28 publications

References 11 publications

Transcended power of the state: the role of actors in Pierre Bourdieu's sociology of the state

Transcended power of the state: the role of actors in Pierre Bourdieu's sociology of the state

EU Civil Society

The Social Construction of Law: The European Court of Justice and Its Legal Revolution Revisited

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