Clase, raza y distinción

This article reflects on the effects of Pierre Bourdieu’s work on the debate over social classes in Brazil and highlights the ruptures it generated in discussions of race. The reception of La Distinction in Brazil is evident mainly in stratification studies developed from the 2000s onward. Bourdieu also exerted a decisive influence on debates about racial relations, particularly after the controversial 1998 publication of «On the Cunning of Imperialist Reason», co-authored with Loïc Wacquant. The article examines: (1) the conditions that enabled the incorporation of La Distinction and Bourdieu’s model of social structure into the Brazilian intellectual field; (2) its subsequent diffusion in Brazilian sociology; and (3) the contentious reception of Bourdieu in the field of racial studies in Brazil

Field (mathematics) · Racism · Social category · Social constructionism · Social stratification · Social theory · Race, Identity, and Education in Brazil · Social and Cultural Dynamics · Sociology and Education in Brazil