Constructing a Field of Power. Reflections Based on a Norwegian Case Study

Abstract

In Pierre Bourdieu's general theory of the social space, the concept 'field of power' occupies a central position. Localized in the areas of the social space where the capital volumes are the highest, the field of power is the arena where agents in dominating field positions engage and are engaged in struggles over power relations internally in a field, as well as in struggles over power relations between hierarchically ordered fields. In this way, Bourdieu's field approach offers an alternative to what has been the dominating traditions in studies of elites, e.g. the Italian school, based on Mosca, Michels and Paretos positional approach, and Robert A. Dahl's decisional approach. But while elites and fields may be universal phenomena, and while Bourdieu's research program may have universal relevance, this does not imply that the field of power anywhere must have the same structure, comprise the same set of positions, can be constructed on the basis of identical types of capital and capital indicators, or that the relations between the types of capital are the same 1. Assuming the opposite entails a de-contextualization and a de-historization of the research object. Simply to replicate Bourdieu's empirical strategy, or to expect finding exactly the same oppositions as those Bourdieu found in France, would therefore be highly problematic. It would also entail the kind of pre-construction of the research object that Bourdieu warned so strongly against, and systematically tried to counteract through 'epistemological ruptures' (Bourdieu et al. 1973). 1 See Bennett et al. (2009) for a thorough empirically based discussion of these issues.

Útvalin og úrvals

“…Elítan hefur áfram afmarkaðan farveg í menntakerfinu, ekki síst í gegnum alþjóðlega skóla en einnig skóla til að mennta þjóðarelítu(van Zanten, 2015). Það á einnig við á Norðurlöndum(Börjesson o.fl., 2020;Hjellbrekke og Korsnes, 2020) og þessi rannsókn gefur vísbendingar um að elítuskólar á Íslandi séu þar ekki undanskildir.…”