Polity The Bachelors' Ball

Continuing the theme of self-reflection, Bourdieu's final book, The Bachelors' Ball, sees him return to Béarn, the region in which he grew up, to examine the gender dynamics of rural France. This personal connection adds poignancy to Bourdieu's ethnographic account of the way the influence of urban values has precipitated a crisis for male peasants. Tied to the land through inheritance, these bachelors find themselves with little to offer the women of Bearn who, like the young Bourdieu himself, abandon the country for the city in droves. Review "Absolutely fundamental to any understanding of the development of Bourdieu's thought ... as insightful as it is moving." Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute"Plunges us into fascinating details of the economics of dowries and animal husbandry." Steven Poole's non-fiction choice in The Guardian From the Inside Flap Continuing the theme of self-reflection, Bourdieu's final book, The Bachelors' Ball, sees him return to Béarn, the region in which he grew up, to examine the gender dynamics of rural France. This personal connection adds poignancy to Bourdieu's ethnographic account of the way the influence of urban values has precipitated a crisis for male peasants. Tied to the land through inheritance, these bachelors find themselves with little to offer the women of Bearn who, like the young Bourdieu himself, abandon the country for the city in droves. From the Back Cover Continuing the theme of self-reflection, Bourdieu's final book, The Bachelors' Ball, sees him return to Béarn, the region in which he grew up, to examine the gender dynamics of rural France. This personal connection adds poignancy to Bourdieu's ethnographic account of the way the influence of urban values has precipitated a crisis for male peasants. Tied to the land through inheritance, these bachelors find themselves with little to offer the women of Bearn who, like the young Bourdieu himself, abandon the country for the city in droves. About the Author Pierre Bourdieu was Formerly Professor of Sociology at the Collège de France and Director of Studies at the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales.