Bourdieu as education policy analyst and expert: a rich but ambiguous legacy

This article focuses on Bourdieu’s contribution to the analysis and transformation of the field ofeducation. It shows that, when closely examined, Bourdieu’s writings on education reveal not onlyone but at least three competitive or complementary policy theories. There is a common principleto all of them, that is the invisibility of policy, which is embedded in the cognitive classifications andeveryday activity of institutions. Nevertheless, while the first theory is strongly deterministic, theother two leave some room for political and pedagogical action. This article also shows thatBourdieu has exerted an important influence, both directly and indirectly, on collective representationsand collective dynamics of educational politics and policy in France. This influence has lasteddespite the extremely varied positions he took throughout his life and work on the relation betweenscience and politics from strong reluctance to commit himself at the beginning of his career toacademic radicalism at the end