Chinese Journal of Sociology

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Generative Schema and Reflexivity：On Pierre Bourdieu’s Sociology of Knowledge

Author 1：Zhao Wanli，Department of Sociology，Zhou Enlai School of Government，Nankai University； Author 2：Zhao Chao，Department of Sociology，Zhou Enlai School of Government，Nankai University.   

  1. Author 1：Zhao Wanli，Department of Sociology，Zhou Enlai School of Government，Nankai University ； Author 2：Zhao Chao，Department of Sociology，Zhou Enlai School of Government，Nankai University.
  • Online:2012-03-20 Published:2012-03-20
  • Contact: Zhao Wanli，Department of Sociology，Zhou Enlai School of Government，Nankai University. E-mail:zhaowl@nankai.edu.cn
  • About author:Author 1：Zhao Wanli，Department of Sociology，Zhou Enlai School of Government，Nankai University； Author 2：Zhao Chao，Department of Sociology，Zhou Enlai School of Government，Nankai University.
  • Supported by:

    This article is based on the project “Study of Sociology of Knowledge and Contemporary Social Theory”, sponsored by the Korea Foundation for Advanced Studies, Asia Research Center in Nankai University（2006, AS0606）；it is also based on the project “Study of Sociology of Knowledge and Frontier Issues in Contemporary Sociology”, sponsored by the New Century TalentSupport Program of the Ministry of Education（2007）..

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Abstract:

Bourdieu’s sociology of knowledge makes an integral part of his sociological theory and is a critical clue for understanding his entire sociological research. This article takes his sociology of knowledge as a unique approach to systematically review Bourdieu’s theory in the areas of knowledge expression, the functional relationship between knowledge and society, practical knowledge, literature and art, and scientific knowledge. First of all, Bourdieu’s theory of knowledge was embedded in the French sociological tradition which emphasized understanding human cognation and its hidden unconscious level, and was characteristic of exploring its link to structural factors. Having incorporated phenomenological epistemology, Bourdieu reinterpreted the relationship between knowledge and society, which modified and revolutionized the French tradition of the sociology of knowledge. By describing human being’s thinking principle as “generative schema” or “doxa,” the dualism between cognition and society was replaced with the duality expression. Therefore, the logic dilemma that once puzzled Bourdieu’s French predecessors of sociology of knowledge was partly resolved. Secondly, through the description of the difference logic that the “practical knowledge” and the “scientific (including sociological) knowledge” had followed, Bourdieu discussed the specific social condition upon which objective knowledge making had to rely, making the sociology of knowledge an essential way to address epistemological problems. Thus, investigation of knowledge in all forms became possible, the unique position of scientific knowledge was maintained, and sociology of knowledge was prevented from sliding into the trap of relativism. Finally, Bourdieu’s sociology of knowledge was encapsulated in his theory of practice and his studies of culture. He transferred the theoretical issues of the sociology of knowledge into the empirical ones of the sociology of culture. Thus Bourdieu committed to correcting the dualism between theory and empirical research in the sociology of knowledge field, and pushed forward the empirical process of the discipline.

Key words: Bourdieu , sociology of knowledge , generative schema , sense of practice , reflexivity