Pierre Bourdieu’s Field Theory and its use for understanding the illicit trafficking of cultural objects

Articles
Resource theme: 
Traffic of works of art, antiques, ancient documents and natural specimens
Looting of archaeological objects
Resource type: 
Bibliography - Articles
Author: 
WINZLER T.
Pages / Length: 
5 p.
Language of publication: 
English

Working paper. In this working paper I have two aims: First, I will briefly sketch out the basic foundations of Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology of culture by resorting to his key concepts capital, habitus, field and reflexivity. And second, I will show how these concepts could help to understand and to explain the illicit trafficking of cultural objects, I will explain how they open up new perspectives, and I will pose fresh questions that could help to generate new insights in this field of study.