Bourdieu and social work

Despite occasional ritualistic invocations of his key concepts and references to certain famous texts, the discipline of social work remains largely unaware of the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. This essay seeks to show that Bourdieu contributed more than just a set of such terms as cultural capital and habitus; he also provided a new relational approach to the study of fields of domination and struggle, a new way of thinking about how power operates within social life. The article demonstrates as well the potential usefulness of his approach, which diverges significantly from much of the research currently being done in social work. Focusing upon the field of homeless services in New York City, the work illustrates how one might conduct a field analysis in Bourdieuian terms. It also explores how use of such an approach might lead to alternative ways of understanding social work systems and practices.