Bourdieu, Language and Linguistics

Michael Grenfell is Professor School of Education, University of Southampton. He has researched and published extensively in Applied Linguistics and the Philosophy of Education. He had a longstanding association with Bourdieu and is author of four other books on his work, including Agent Provocateur (Continuum).

• 1. Introduction; Part I; 2. Bourdieu: A Theory of Practice, Michael Grenfell (University of Southampton, UK); 3. Bourdieu, Language and Linguistics, Michael Grenfell University of Southampton, UK); Part II; 4. Language Variation (Phonetics and Phonology), Michael Grenfell (University of Southampton, UK); 5. Language and Ideology, Robert Vann (Western Michigan University, USA); 6. Linguistic Ethnography, Adrian Blackledge (University of Birmingham, UK); 7. Language Policy, Stephen May (University of Waikato, New Zealand); 8. Language and Education, Allen Luke (University of Queensland, Australia); Part III; 9. Towards a Bourdieusian Linguistics, Michael Grenfell (University of Southampton, UK) & Adrian Blackledge (University of Birmingham, UK); 10. Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.

Pierre Bourdieu was perhaps the most influential sociologist of the second half of the 20th century. Given that language was so central to his theoretical and empirical works, it is surprising that so few scholars have addressed Bourdieu's theory of language or the ways in which he studied it, its use, and linguistic capital in his empirical work. Michael Grenfell and his contributors have rectified this in comprehensive and insightful ways. Grenfell's wonderful introduction to Bourdieu's work and his theory of language is theoretically rich as well as accessible to those -- including many scholars who use Bourdieu in their own work -- who are unfamiliar with linguistic theory. This sets the stage for the practical and empirical contributions that demonstrate how researchers can use Bourdieu in their own language-oriented studies and how teachers can better understand the ways in which language works in their own classrooms. This book shows how an understanding of Bourdieu's theory of language is key to an understanding of his entire body of work and should inform all Bourdieusian research. In conjunction with his other books on Bourdieu's life and his theories of education and art, Bourdieu, Language and Linguistics establishes Grenfell as perhaps the most important scholar working on Bourdieu today.