Bourdieu's State Lectures Published Posthumously
Ten years after Pierre Bourdieu's death, his estate publishes 'Sur l'État. Cours au Collège de France (1989-1992)', a transcription of three years of lectures on the state. The editors preserved the oral character, including improvisations and audience anticipation. Bourdieu's central thesis defines the state as the 'monopoly of legitimate symbolic violence', extending Max Weber's definition of physical violence. The lectures cover state genesis from dynastic to bureaucratic forms, the French Revolution, and the persistence of nation-states under neoliberalism. Bourdieu engages critically with Marxist thought (Gramsci, Althusser, Anderson) and draws on German philosophy (Panofsky, Kantorowicz, Cassirer). Topics include royal seals, linguistic unification, national cultures, school schedules, and state festivals. The work precedes a forthcoming two-year set on Édouard Manet.
Key facts
- Published for the tenth anniversary of Bourdieu's death
- Covers lectures from 1989 to 1992 at Collège de France
- Editors chose to retain oral style and improvisations
- Central thesis: state as monopoly of legitimate symbolic violence
- Extends Weber's definition of state as monopoly of physical violence
- Includes critical dialogue with Marxist thinkers
- Draws on Panofsky, Kantorowicz, and Cassirer
- Precedes forthcoming publication on Édouard Manet (1998-2000)
Entities
Artists
- Pierre Bourdieu
- Édouard Manet
- Roland Barthes
- Michel Foucault
- Max Weber
- Antonio Gramsci
- Louis Althusser
- Perry Anderson
- Erwin Panofsky
- Ernst Kantorowicz
- Ernst Cassirer
Institutions
- Collège de France
- Seuil
- Raisons d'agir
Locations
- France
- England
- China
- Japan
- Algeria
Sources
- artpress —