Evaluation of the Concept of Habitus Giving Examples from Everyday Life - Coursework Example

? Habitus Introduction Each person has a specific routine and lifestyle that they follow and have become accustomed. The usual lifestyle of a person defines who they are in all aspects and how they take life each and every day. It becomes more of a ritual and one becomes more accustomed to it until it turns out a habit. In this essay, attention will be focused on the aspect of Habitus. The term refers to the lifestyle of an individual (Bourdieu, 56, 1990). It refers to the lifestyle of a person, how they can be defined and also how they live. The term refers to the values, dispositions and the certain expectations that certain groups and people come to face in their everyday life. With each passing day, different social groups face particular values and expectation that make them view life in a different way that they did before. Through their activities and their everyday experiences, they come to acquire a certain set of the mind and they become structured to follow certain sensibilities and develop certain taste. When speaking about habitus, the specific aspects of the term habitus are the result of the act of representing something in the aspect of an abstraction as a physical thing. This is done in a social structure at the level of certain individual and personal subjectivity. When it comes to habitus, it can be seen and comprehended as a setting of the notions of good sense and having sound judgment that is present within other disciplines of social science research. Habitus is perhaps best understood when one looks at the relation to the notion of the habitus and field. One is able to see and relate to the similarity and also the liaison amid personage agents and the background surroundings when looking at this two (Bourdieu, 201, 1984). The term habitus was a concept that was introduced in the very early years and was introduced by Marcel Mauss, but was later elaborated by Pierre Bourdieu. When Pierre talks about the term, he describes it as something that is independent and is dependent of the history of man and also the aspect of human being’s memory (Flint, 45, 2000).  Looking at an example, a certain behavior, value or even a belief tends to become part of a society's structure and also their way of life when the original purpose and intent of that behavior, value or belief can no longer be retraced or recalled and this makes the behavior, value or belief to become something that is socialized into individuals of that culture (Garci?a-Rivera & ScirghI, 110, 2008). This means that there are many cultures, value and beliefs that are followed by many societies and social groups but their origins are unknown. One definition of habitus is that it is also those aspects of culture that are embodied in the body and also the daily practices of certain individuals, social groups, societies, and nations. Habitus includes the accruement of certain habits that have been learnt. This can also include bodily skills, tastes, styles and also other digressing knowledge that might be said to be a common occurrence or ritual for a specific group. Habitus is mainly comprised of durable systems, structured structures and dispositions that are transposable (Luke, 23, 2003). They are the principles that bring about the generation and the organization of practices and their representation. The term can be described as a theory of a community. Each and every community has its own theory about how certain things came to exist. Each community, group or society tries to justify its culture and its existence in a different way from the other, and they usually succeed (Wadsworth, 233, 2010). The term habitus can be used in sociology to teach different things. One good definition of habitus is that it can be seen in terms of culture, as the elements in which make up a certain place or thing to have meaning. One main example is taking a look at the football field. The football field is comprised of several things or aspects that make up the entire field to be called a football field (Webb, Danaher & Schirato, 47, 2002). Things present include the goal posts, the markings, the players, the football and also the spectators. These things make the field in which they are present to be known as a football field. Same case applies to habitus; it makes something to have more meaning. It makes a certain thing that is being done to have more meaning and thus to be viewed as legit. Habitus originates through a social process and this is rather than individual process and this leads to certain patterns that are long-lasting and can be conveyed to different contexts. They can also show the characteristic of shifting in relation to certain contexts and also over time. When it comes to habitus, it is not a fixed thing neither is it permanent. It can be changed or it can change under certain unexpected situations and also over a long historical period that takes away time. Habitus can also be characterized as one that is not as a result of free will, and neither is it defined by the determination of structures. It can be defined as a creation that is created by a certain kind of interplay between the result of free will and also the determination of structures that occurs over time. Habitus are dispositions that can be defined by the shaping of past events and structures. These past events and structures shape the current practices that are present and also another important factor is that they have a way to influence the much known perceptions of people. From the above definition, it is safe to say that habitus is created and also reproduced unconsciously (Thrift, 299, 1996). It is created without the conscious knowledge of whoever is creating it. It is done without deliberate cause and the real reason that it is done is because there is the rush to gain or obtain coherence. Without much thought or concentration, habitus has a way of controlling unconsciously. An important concept that is also introduced by the idea of habitus is the concept of social capital. This, unlike the name suggests is beyond the notion of material assets to capital and talks about capital in a more like society way. Capital in this case talks about the social, cultural or symbolic background of society. When looking at these forms of capital, they are all equally important. Another aspect that they share is that they can accumulate and also be transferred from one area o interest to another. Taking a look at cultural capital and also the means in which it is formed or transferred from other forms of capital as mentioned above, it plays one huge and central role in terms of power relations in a society. This helps in the provision of a means for a non-economic way that allows for domination and hierarchy. This happens even as classes differentiate themselves through certain taste in terms of the society. In a different view, there is the shift from material to cultural and also to other symbolic forms of capital. This, to a large extent, brings about the hiding of the causes of inequality. Socialized forms and tendencies are what cause and to some point guide the thinking of individuals (Zeuner, 134, 2003).  The general idea of the concept of habitus is that there is a social order in which there is the presence of a progressive aspect that has found its way into people’s minds and they have been able to incorporate it as their own. They have been able to do this through channels that are called cultural products which basically include certain systems such as; values, systems of education, language, methods of classification, judgments and activities of everyday life. Taking a look at the French way of culture, they have been able to incorporate these aspects and as such have brought about the unconscious acceptance of the social differences and hierarchies that are currently present. They have brought those social differences and hierarchies back to a sense of one’s place in society and also to self inclusion behaviors. The aspect of fields when talking about habitus is very important (National Foundation for Jewish Culture (U.S.), 34, 2006).When talking about fields, they are the various social and institutional areas or aspects whereby people are able to express and take out their inherent qualities of the mind. It is a place that they are capable to have the chance to compete for the likelihood of a distribution when it comes to the different kinds of capital. A field can be given the simple definition of being a network of a kind, or a structure that is set in a certain way or also a type of relationship that can be considered religious, cultural and also in other cases educational (Hillier, 178, 2005). There is a different reaction to the type of field that one is currently present in when it comes to society or individuals. The society do experience different levels of power depending on the field that they are present in at the moment. It is safe to conclude that there are certain influences that have an impact on habitus; the context available and the environment present with this (Swartz, 103, 1997). Certain tensions and problems may arise from people trying to take in the fact that there are more different contexts and also trying to influence them. When it comes to individuals, people are all different. Some people are able to resist the power of other certain fields but they are not able to resist the domination and power of others. This means that everyone has different abilities, and as a community or a society, a lot can be achieved. There are certain unequal divisions that are in society and it is the things that are taken for granted or are unstated that bring this level of division. In every distinct decision that one makes, there is always the possibility that one will have made n assumption about something, or they will forget to use their common sense to make that decision (Ritzer, 211, 2005).  Conclusion It can be concluded that the concept of habitus is common in the line of sociology and relates to many aspects in that field. Throughout the entire lifespan of people, there is much emphasis on the fact that day to day activities all follow a certain belief or value. The day to day interpretation of people regarding other things is the fact that the present world that individuals live in is a complex network full of social structures that are contained in the beliefs and in the values that people believe in (Eikeland, 108, 2008). The use of common sense to interpret the world as it is affected by many factors; which include the class, age, political affiliation, industrial capability, gender, and also ethnic groups. These factors have made people make various assumptions about others and also about other things. They have been able to become known as what defines people; how people think and how they interpret. Habitus has the ability to generate a lot of thoughts, actions and expressions on people. A perfect and real life example can be taken from the fact that people of different ethnic groups do not get along. Some ethnic groups do get along and have even intermarried. Others have remained to hate each other. This hate is brought about by the fact that there is the presence of a thought that shows that one ethnic group is stronger and therefore more superior to the other. Because of this, there is no freedom of thought since all follow a certain belief, value or religion (Prinsloo & Baynham, 45, 2008).  Bibliography Thrift, N. J. (1996). Spatial formations. London, Sage. Zeuner, L. (2003). Cultural sociology from concern to distance. Copenhagen, Copenhagen Business School Press. Webb, J., Danaher, G., & Schirato, T. (2002). Understanding Bourdieu. London, SAGE. Wadsworth, Y. (2010). Building in research and evaluation: human inquiry for living systems. Walnut Creek, CA, Left Coast Press. Luke, H. (2003). Medical education and sociology of medical habitus: "It's not about the stethoscope ! Dordrecht, Kluwer academic publ. Garci?a-Rivera, A., & ScirghI, T. J. (2008). Living beauty: the art of liturgy. Lanham, Md, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Hillier, J. 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