1. What are the five characteristics of Bourdieu's notion of habitus? (p.12-13). Define each of them and give an example.

2. Explain why the relation between habitus and field is so important for Bourdieu. (p.14)

3. On p.13 Thompson writes: "[The habitus] orients [people's] actions and inclinations without strictly determining them". Give an example from your own life of a) a primary habitus you acquired at home or at school b) a secondary habitus you acquired later.

4. What kinds of symbolic capital have you accumulated until now in your life: cultural, linguistic, political, religious? What kind of "profit of distinction" can you derive from it in which fields?(p.18)

5. What does Bourdieu mean by "the economy of linguistic exchanges"?

6. What does he mean by "symbolic power"? (p.23)

7. Explain how the exchange of gifts at Christmas time can be viewed as symbolic violence. (p.24)

8. To what extent can one say that the educational system is an exercise of symbolic violence?

 

9. Give one or two examples of the mechanisms of self-censorship and strategies of euphemization in everyday life (pp.19-20).

 

10. Explain in Bourdieu's terms how President Bush can get away with so many infractions to the correct use of Standard English.

 

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