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.