The Saussurean Influence in Pierre Bourdieu’s Relational Sociology

Abstract

In this contribution the relationship between Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of class and semiotics is clarified. It is therefore focused on the relational logic that underpins his analysis in Distinction. It is argued that Bourdieu’s relational logic stems for a large part from Saussure. The differences Bourdieu identifies as signifying classes do so only as arbitrary signs and not because of any intrinsic qualities. Furthermore, it is argued that this relational logic is a necessary completion in Bourdieu’s analysis, because of his rejection of Kantian aesthetics, in which an immediate understanding of intrinsic quality is a central point. Both the Kantian and the Saussurean influence are given in the title and subtitle of his work: Distinction: A Social Critique of the Judgement of Taste. This clarification of Bourdieu’s chief methodological principle shows how Bourdieu, who, in his later years, became more and more engaged in public debates, has always been a critical thinker.