I am interested in developing a conception of action that heeds the “carnality” of human life (the fact that, prior to anything else, we are fleshly, sentient, and suffering beings, creatures of desire and drive) so as to capture the “taste and ache of action” that are consistently missed by the two dominant models of conduct (Benthamite rational choice and the Kantian animal symbolicum).
The concept of habitus, as I understand it, is intended to do just that: to help us develop a sociology not of the body (as socially constructed) but from the body (as socially constructing).
“Habitus as Topic and Tool: Reflections on Becoming a Prizefighter.” Qualitative Research in Psychology 8 (Spring 2011): 81-92.
[PDF – English]
Reprints and Translations:
English original: “Habitus as Topic and Tool: Reflections on Becoming a Fighter,” in William Shaffir, Antony Puddephatt and Steven Kleinknecht (eds.), Ethnographies Revisited, New York, Routledge, 2009, pp. 137-151.
Reprinted in Ivan Waddington, Andy Smith and Ken Green (eds.), New Paths in the Sociology of Sport, London, Routledge, 2011.
Italian translation: “L’habitus come oggetto e come strumento: Riflessioni sul divenire un pugilatore.” Etnografia e ricerca sociale, 4, Spring 2009, pp. 7-22.
French version: “L’habitus comme objet et méthode,” Actes de la recherche en sciences sociales, 174, September 2010, pp. 109-121; modified and abridged version reprinted as “La chair et le texte: l’ethnographie comme instrument de rupture et de construction,” in Delphine Naudier and Maud Simonet (eds.), Des sociologues sans qualités? Pratiques de recherche et engagements, Paris, La Découverte, 2011, pp. 201-221.
German translation: “Habitus als Thema und Analysewerkzeug: Betrachtungen zum Werdegang eines Berufsboxers,” LiThes. Zeitschrift für Literatur- und Theatersoziologie (Vienna), special triple issue on “Habitus at Work”: 5-23 (also in the forthcoming companion book edited by Beatrix Mueller-Kampel and Helmut Kuzmics).
Spanish translation: forthcoming in Sociographica (Rosario), Fall 2010.
“Carnal Connections: On Embodiment, Membership, and Apprenticeship.” Qualitative Sociology, response to the Special issue on “Body and Soul,” 28-4 (Winter 2005): 445-471.
Excerpt reprinted as “Apprenticeship, Viscerality, Writing,” La Furia humana (Rome), summer 2010.
[PDF – English] [PDF – Español/Spanish]
Reprints and Translations:
Spanish translation: “Conexiones carnales: sobre corporización, aprendizaje y pertenencia,” Pensar. Epistemología política y ciencias sociales (Cordoba, Argentina), 3/4, Fall 2008 (Dossier Por una ciencia socia desde el cuerpo), pp. 14-41.
“Habitus.” Pp. 315-319 in International Encyclopedia of Economic Sociology. Edited by Jens Beckert and Milan Zafirovski. London: Routledge, 2004.
[PDF – English]
Reprints and Translations:
Slovenian translation: Monitor ZSA (Ljubljana), 7-1/2 (Fall 2006).
Portuguese translation: “Esclarecer o habitus,” Sociologia. Problemas e práticas (Lisboa), 14, Fall 2004, pp. 35-4; reprinted in Revista Educação & Linguagem (São Paulo), July-December 2007, pp. 63-71.
Brazilian translation: “Mappeando o habitus,” Habitus, 2-1, January 2004, pp. 11-18.
“Shadowboxing with Ethnographic Ghosts: A Rejoinder.” Symbolic Interaction 28-3 (Summer 2005): 441-447.
[PDF – English]
“Whores, Slaves, and Stallions: Languages of Exploitation and Accomodation Among Professional Fighters.” Body & Society 7-2/3 (June-September 2001, special issue on “Commodifying Bodies”): 181-194.
[PDF – English]
“The Prizefighter’s Three Bodies.” Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology 63-3 (November 1998): 325-352.
[PDF – English] [ PDF – Español/Spanish]
Reprints and Translations:
Portuguese translation (abridged): “Os Três Corpos do Lutador Profissional,” in Daniel Soáres Lins et al., A Dominaçâo masculina revisitada, Campinas, Papirus, 1998, pp. 73-96.
Spanish translation: “Los tres cuerpos del boxeador,” in Isabel Jiménez (ed.), Capital simbólico y magia social en la obra de Pierre Bourdieu, México, UNAM/Plaza y Valdés Editores, 2009, pp. 137-172.
Also published as: “Los tres cuerpos del boxeador profesional,” Revista Educación Física y Ciencia (La Plata), 8, Fall 2006, pp. 11-35.
“A Fleshpeddler at Work: Power, Pain, and Profit in the Prizefighting Economy.” Theory and Society 27-1 (February 1998): 1-42.
[PDF – English]
Reprints and Translations:
French translation (abridged version): “Un marchand de chair à l’oeuvre: passion, pouvoir et profit dans l’économie de la boxe professionnelle,” Actuel Marx, 41, printemps 2007, pp. 71-83.
“Sacrifice.” Pp. 47-59 in Body Language: Graywolf Forum Two. Edited by Gerald Early. Saint Paul, Minnesota: Graywolf Press, 1998.
[PDF – English]
Reprints and Translations:
German translation: “Opfer: Über die Berufsethik des Preisboxers,” Berliner Debatte Initial. Zeitschrift für sozialwissenschaftlichen Diskurs, 12-1, January 2001, pp. 22-29.
Spanish translation: “Sacrificio,” in L. Wacquant, Entre las cuerdas, Madrid, Alianza, 2004, pp. 139-149.
Excerpted in Spanish as “Sacrificio,” in Mística de Olé (Buenos Aires), 180 (Buenos Aires): 43.
French translation: “Sacrifice,” Le Passant ordinaire, 42, Fall 2002, pp. 29-33; also included in the second expanded edition of Corps et âme, Marseilles, Agone, 2002, pp. 149-163; reprinted in Drôle d’époque, 17, November 2005, pp. 21-34.
Catalan translation: “Sacrifici,” in Cos i ànima. Quaderns etnogràfics d’un aprenent de boxejador, Barcelona, Edicions de 1984, 2004, pp. 159-174.
Reprinted in Kristen Barber and Danielle Antoinette Hidalgo (eds.), Gender and Embodiment, New York, Routledge, forthcoming in 2010.
“The Pugilistic Point of View: How Boxers Think and Feel about their Trade.” Theory & Society 24-4 (August 1995): 489-535.
[PDF – English] [PDF – Español/Spanish]
Reprints and Translations:
Reprinted as “Through the Boxer’s Eyes,” in Robert C. Cantu (ed.), Boxing and Medicine, Urbana, Human Kinetics Publishers, 1995, pp. 129-173.
French translation (abridged): “Aperçu sur la passion pugilistique,” La Soeur de l’Ange, 5, Spring 2007, pp. 140-148.
Spanish translation: in Revista de Educación Física y Ciencia (La Plata), March 2009.
“Why Men Desire Muscles.” Body & Society 1-1 (Spring 1995): 163-180.
[PDF – English]
Shortened version: “A Body Too Big To Feel,” Masculinities 2-3 (Spring 1994): 78-86.
“Pugs at Work: Bodily Capital and Bodily Labor Among Professional Boxers.” Body & Society 1-1 (March 1995): 65-94.
[PDF – English]
Reprints and Translations:
Extended version published as “A Sacred Weapon: Bodily Capital and Bodily Labor Among Professional Boxers,” in Cheryl Cole, John Loy, and Michael A. Messner (eds.), Exercising Power: Making and Remaking the Body, Albany, SUNY Press, 1997.
Excerpt reprinted as “Bodily Capital Among Professional Boxers,” in Alan Tomlinson (ed.), The Sport Studies Reader (London: Routedge, 2006), pp. 281-286.
Reprinted in Richard Hobbs (ed.), Ethnography in Context, London, Sage, 2011.
Spanish translation: “Un arma sagrada. Los boxeadores profesionales: capital corporal y trabajo corporal”, in Javier Auyero (ed.), Caja de Herramientas. El lugar de la cultura en la sociologia norteamericana, Buenos Aires, UNQUI, 1999, pp. 237-292.
French translation: “La fabrique de la cogne: capital corporel et travail du corps chez les boxeurs professionnels,” Quasimodo, 7, Spring 2003, pp. 181-201.
“The Prizefighter’s Three Bodies.” Ethnos: Journal of Anthropology 63-3 (November 1998): 325-352.
[PDF – English] [PDF – Español/Spanish]
Reprints and Translations:
Portuguese translation (abridged): “Os Três Corpos do Lutador Profissional,” in Daniel Soáres Lins et al., A Dominaçâo masculina revisitada, Campinas, Papirus, 1998, pp. 73-96.
Spanish translation: “Los tres cuerpos del boxeador,” in Isabel Jiménez (ed.), Capital simbólico y magia social en la obra de Pierre Bourdieu, México, UNAM/Plaza y Valdés Editores, 2009, pp. 137-172.
Also published as: “Los tres cuerpos del boxeador profesional,” Revista Educación Física y Ciencia (La Plata), 8, Fall 2006, pp. 11-35.
“Why Men Desire Muscles.” Body & Society 1-1 (Spring 1995): 163-180.
[PDF – English]
Shortened version: “A Body Too Big To Feel,” Masculinities 2-3 (Spring 1994): 78-86.
Loïc Wacquant 