Pierre Bourdieu is regarded as one of the foremost social philosophers of the twentieth century. His output included extensive studies of education, culture, art and language. He went beyond being a sociologist to being regarded in the same 'public intellectual' role as Sartre, de Beauvoir and Foucault. Issues surrounding language permeate Bourdieu's entire oeuvre. Although he did undertake empirical studies on language in a range of contexts, very little of this was published. This book redresses this balance; it sets out what Bourdieu has to say about language and why, and exemplifies this approach through a series of empirical language studies. This book will appeal to researchers across the world in fields such as sociology, philosophy, cultural studies, anthropology but is of especial interest to language and linguistics scholars.

"If language is the medium of education, as Grenfell, and the authors of this book (and Bourdieu) would say, then this book is a must for all scholars of language in education, and those who would wish to understand and reflect on educational processes and practices. This book brings a passion, energy and commitment to that task that, as Bourdieu himself would do, challenges and contends with contemporary structures and debates in a lively and provocative manner. (Kate Pahl, Senior Lecturer in Education, School of Education, University of Sheffield, UK)"

Michael Grenfell is Professor in the School of Education, Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland. He has researched and published extensively in Applied Linguistics and the Philosophy of Education. He had a longstanding association with Bourdieu and is author of four other books on his work, including Agent Provocateur (Continuum).