Economizing habitus : material calculation and ‘the rules of the game’ in the publishing industry

Abstract

Pierre Bourdieu’s classical sociology and the actor network based ‘economization’ literature are often considered contradictory, despite some agreement on the constructed nature of economic man. Through an examination of the publishing industry, we argue that Bourdieu’s concept of habitus may offer a useful contribution to the literature on economization. We examine how those new to a field come to understand their position and the role of material devices in structuring this. We argue that Bourdieu’s theory, appropriately stated, sheds light on the tacit assessments made by market agents alongside their involvement in network-based calculative mechanisms, and allows studies of markets to deal with some persistent criticisms of the economization programme.