Pierre Bourdieu Influence On Society

INTRODUCTION:
Organised sport provides an opportunity to develop essential life skills that can be transferred to everyday life. Sport is an important aspect of the Australian culture and should be a part of the youth experience, both in and outside of school. There are number of social benefits gained from participating in organised team sports, some examples include team work skills, cooperation, communication, learning how to cope with winning and losing and social interaction. Traditionally sport is seen as a male’s domain, and women have had no capital in the sporting field. This is particularly prominent in cricket. Throughout history women have received little recognition for their influence in cricket and today are still overpowered
His work mainly focussed on the dynamic of power in society, particularly emphasising the numerous ways that power is conveyed and how the social order is maintained within and through generations. In contrast to most of Western philosophy his work focussed on the social life of an individual and the role of practice and their position in society. (Webb, J. Schirato, T. Danaher, G. 2002, Ch. 4) Bourdieu’s theory had 3 key points, habitus, field and capital.

Habitus refers to the cognitive system of structures which are embedded within an individual that are the internal depictions of external structures. (Grenfell, M., & James, D. (1998)) An individual’s habitus comprises of thoughts, taste, beliefs, interest and understanding/ interpretation of the world around us; this is heavily influenced by family, culture and education. A major point of Bourdieu’s theory is that a person’s habitus limits but does not define thoughts and actions.

A field is a setting in which individuals and their social status are located. The position of each individual in a field is a result of interaction between the specific ‘code of behaviour’ of the field, the individual’s habitus and the individual’s capital. Fields are non-homogenous groups that interact and have a level of hierarchy. Most fields are inferior to the field of power and class relations. (Grenfell, M.
Some people believe that cricket can be linked to ancient shepherds playing with their crooks. The shepherds crook was originally known as a ‘cricce’. (Mani, E. (2009)) There is evidence that suggests the sport originating as early as the 12th – 13th century and it became popular by the end of the 17th century. It originated in South East England and became the national sport and was taken up by the aristocracy by the 17th century.

Surrey (an oval in South England) was heavily backed by the Prince of Wales who was very passionate about the game. Cricket soon had a reputation as a sport for the upper classes. It was played at country house venues; the matches being large social events, that often resulted in substantial wagering of money on the outcome of the games. Cricket was initially played in England and overseas between themselves (the British). It was originally a British game and initially it did not appeal to foreigners. Indigenous cultures were not encouraged to participate in the game. (Horne, B.