Bourdieu in hyperspace: from social topology to the space of flows

ABSTRACT

This article focuses on Bourdieu’s topological conception of social space to expand on it and develop an alternative model. Bourdieu describes social space as topological because it consists of a set of relative positions. Individuals in similar positions can come together to form social groups, so that differences between groups reveal or at least reflect the different positions in space. For this reason, it is convenient to think of social space as Bourdieu understands it as a space of groups. Yet there are other kinds of geometry beside topology. The article examines the difference between topology and Euclidean geometry to determine how we can modify Bourdieu’s model to uncover other potential features of social space. Rather than conceptualizing social space as a space of groups, we can envision a flow that is created as individuals relay one another so that the flow can go on even though the same individuals never stay put. Flows can arise by finding support on other flows. Thus arise structures in space that cannot be ‘mapped onto’ social actors occupying different positions because actors only sustain the flows through their perpetual turnover.

KEYWORDS:

• Bourdieu
• social topology
• geometry
• groups
• flows

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jean-Sébastien Guy

Jean-Sébastien Guy is assistant professor in the department of sociology and social anthropology at Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada. He has published in Current Sociology, Current Perspectives in Social Theory and the European Journal of Social Theory. He is currently writing a book on the distinction between metric and nonmetric in sociology.