Introducing Bourdieu and Higher Education

This chapter provides a brief history and introduction of Bourdieu as an academic and philosopher. The chapter outlines what motivated Bourdieu’s work, and discusses how his theories have been applied to many evaluations of society and the mechanics of class and cultural trajectory. The chapter also outlines how and why Bourdieu designed and refined these theories in academic settings, and used academia as the setting by which to demonstrate practical applications of his work. The chapter concludes with an overview of Bourdieu’s own views of higher education, while also taking into account the period and setting in which his views were shaped.