Mediators and social configurations of Bourdieu's uses in Argentina.

Abstract

Pierre Bourdieu is one of the most cited authors in the social and human sciences (SHS) in Argentina. Since the end of the 1970s, the appropriations are varied; they multiply exponentially towards the end of the century and, as a “founder of discursivities” in the present his ideas are diluted by diverse scenarios of symbolic production. In order to understand the process through which his figure made his presence felt in southern America, it is necessary to observe two intertwined series of events. On the one hand, the appropriations by SHS specialists who are recognised by their uses of Bourdieu’s work. On the other hand, his availability to the reading public in university education, in the press and in the book market, through the Spanish translation of a large part of his work, a competitive action between Argentine, Mexican and Spanish publishers. Although we will not be able to deal with all the dimensions that we believe necessary to fully analyse the paths of reception, the data allow us to confirm that Bourdieu is an effective sign to objectify the dynamism of the Argentine cultural space, a central pole on an Ibero-American scale where the academic milieu is populated by numerous specialists from different disciplines whose essays and research feed centrally on the questions and models of analysis proposed by the French author. The article focuses on the careers of Alicia Gutiérrez, Denis Baranger and Ana Teresa Martínez, sociologists known as the “Argentine Bourdieusians”. The institutional positioning of these agents (and others central to the dissemination of the Bourdieusian programme in the Southern Cone) in the provinces shows that Bourdieu is not a “dominant” author in the disputes over the SHS in this country.