The Relevance of Bourdieu for Social Work: A Reflection on Obstacles and Omissions

• Summary: The article welcomes social work's seemingly new interest in Pierre Bourdieu. However, it is important to recognize the problems inherent in his mammoth contribution. • Findings: First, Bourdieu can often present his readers with challenges which make it difficult to grasp his core arguments. Here, major obstacles include: Bourdieu's prose style; the sheer scale of his ‘output' and related matters; the fact that most readers (perhaps especially those situated outside the French intellectual field and its associated cultural milieu) might fail to recognize key contextual factors only hinted at in his work; the misleading labels frequently attached to Bourdieu (for example, ‘Marxist' or ‘postmodernist'). The second area of difficulty relates to aspects of the theoretical content of Bourdieu's contribution. It is argued that his lack of engagement, even flawed contributions, relating to issues pivoting on multiculturalism, ‘race' and ethnicity is important. Furthermore, Bourdieu's conceptual apparatus possibly lays too great an emphasis on the dulled passivity of social actors, particularly the working class. Finally, his ideas on the function of the state can be viewed as problematic. • Applications : If social work is going to evolve a more Bourdieusian form of theory and practice then there is a need to take into account the insights which his work provides and to address the problems which it presents.