Is Bourdieu a ‘defunct economist’? par Greg Ashman

Greg Ashman a écrit:
I am periodically drawn back to a quote by John Maynard Keynes that has featured in a number of recent books about education:

"The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed the world is ruled by little else. Practical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influence, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back. I am sure that the power of vested interests is vastly exaggerated compared with the gradual encroachment of ideas… it is ideas, not vested interests, which are dangerous for good or evil."

It was while reading a new book by E. D. Hirsch that I began to ponder Pierre Bourdieu and whether he might be playing the role of a, “defunct economist”. If you search ERIC, the database of education research, for his surname it returns 929 results. This would be unsurprising to anyone who has been involved in education research. Bourdieu, Derrida and Deleuze are common sources of authority appended to otherwise rather mundane sociological research or commentary papers.

Yet I wonder whether people stop to ask whether it is a good idea to apply his ideas to education.