Marxism meets Bourdieu

Abstract

Defender of a heterodox Marxism, conceived as a method of analyzing social theory (and practice) vital for understanding the contradictions that permeate capitalism, Michael Burawoy is an indispensable author of contemporary sociology. In his work Marxism meets Bourdieu, published in 2010 in Brazil, he presents imaginary dialogues between Bourdieu and Marx and Engels, and
Bourdieu's dialogues with Marxist theorists and some sociologists and critical intellectuals (Antonio Gramsci, Frantz Fanon, Simone de Beauvoir, Wright Mills). The objective is to relate social theory and political practice based on the concepts of organic intellectual and “traditional” intellectual. The undertaking carried out by the author materialized in six classes taught at the Harvens Center and published in this highly valuable work. Its proposal is, above all, to highlight the different sides of Bourdieu, considered by him to be the most representative and influential sociologist of our time. In general, imaginary dialogues always attempt to answer the following questions: what is the relationship between theory and practice among intellectuals and their varied audiences?