Pilier contre champ ? De l’articulation entre différenciation fonctionnelle et fragmentation culturelle

Sociology invites us to think of everything in terms of its social conditions of production, manufacture, circulation and use. Can we continue this exercise in connection with sociological theory itself ? Beginning here with Pierre Bourdieu’s field theory, we deal with two questions. Does the concept of field continue to function in the same way (and with the same effectiveness) when it is displaced towards a context outside the French society it was forged in ? Does it remain relevant in all contexts marked by a form of differentiation of spheres of activity ? To answer these questions, we will examine the relevance of field theory in the Belgian context. Examining this context – which, as we know, beyond the process of functional differentiation at the origin of fields, requires taking into account a process of cultural fragmentation at the origin of what Belgian and Dutch intellectuals have gotten into the habit of calling “pillars” – leads us to take a more complex theoretical look at how various forces, finding their origin in the field of power, produce effects on the functioning and structure of specific fields.