On the Subject of Bourdieu, théoricien de la pratique, edited by Michel de Fornel and Albert Ogien (Paris: Éditions de l’EHESS, coll. “Raisons pratiques,” 21, 2011).

The collected essays devoted to Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice break away from the sterile tradition that forces readers to be unconditionally for or radically against the sociologist’s work. The authors are philosophers, sociologists, anthropologists and linguists. Their relationship with Bourdieu’s endeavor may vary and the book is constructed from diverse perspectives. If there is a stress on pragmatism, linguistics and phenomenology, the central issue is to know what should be added to Bourdieu’s theory, or what should be removed to develop a full theory of action. The volume is divided in four parts, Theory, Politics, Language and Action, in a both plural and cohesive questioning. The book is undoubtedly an inescapable reference on a classical work.