The Field of Power and the Division of the Labour of Domination

In these handwritten notes for his 1985–1986 lectures at Collège de France, Pierre Bourdieu, outlines his theoretical view of the field of power as a space of positions from which power is exerted over species of capital that dominate in the different social fields that give access to this space. Characterized by struggles over the recognition of species of capital emerging from different fields, especially those between the dominant temporal powers (politics, economy, military) and the dominated spiritual ones (culture, education), the field of power is tied together by an organic solidarity through the shared interest in the fight over the legitimate principle of domination and by the increasingly complex networks, exchanges and alliances through which this struggle is fought.