must-have ! The Social Structures of the Economy by Pierre Bourdieu



Much orthodox economic theory is based on assumptions which are treated as self-evident: supply and demand are regarded as independent entities, the individual is assumed to be a rational agent who knows his interests and how to make decisions corresponding to them, and so on. But one has only to examine an economic transaction closely, as Pierre Bourdieu does here for the buying and selling of houses, to see that these abstract assumptions cannot explain what happens in reality.
As Bourdieu shows, the market is constructed by the state, which can decide, for example, whether to promote private housing or collective provision. And the individuals involved in the transaction are immersed in symbolic constructions which constitute, in a mighty sense, the value of houses, neighbourhoods and towns.

The abstract and illusory nature of the assumptions of orthodox economic theory has been criticised by several economists, but Bourdieu argues that we must go further. Supply, demand, the market a