Tuesday, April 21, 2009
It's your choice. (But not really.)
Habitus is the mental or cognitive structure in which people deal with the social world. It's like a filter in which we perceive and experience life. A habitus is acquired as a result of a long term position in the social world and is influenced by your social class, your economic classification, your religion/faith, your ethnicity, the clubs and organizations that you belong to, and a million other things. If habitus is created by society and is largely influenced and maintained by society, do we really have freedom? Bourdieu would say yes. But when asked if society structures our choices Bourdieu would also say yes. So do you agree with him? Can you explain what this means? The answer was in our texts, but what does it mean to YOU?
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According to Bourdieu's definition of Habitus, one is shaped by social surroundings. Since the moment we are born we have no control over our habitus. We cannot choice our class, our religion, our ethnicity or enviroment. In essence, Habitus is what one has lived from the day one was born until the present. It is what we have lived and learned.
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