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Chapter 8 - A Bourdieusian Perspective on Strategizing

from Part II - Theoretical Resources: Social Theory

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 March 2025

By
Marie-Léandre Gomez
Edited by
Damon Golsorkhi ,
Linda Rouleau ,
David Seidl  and
Eero Vaara
Damon Golsorkhi
Affiliation:
emlyon Business School
Linda Rouleau
Affiliation:
HEC Montréal
David Seidl
Affiliation:
Universität Zürich
Eero Vaara
Affiliation:
Saïd Business School, University of Oxford
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Summary

Marie-Léandre Gomez provides a Bourdieusian perspective on strategy as practice. This is a contribution that is very much needed, given the impact of Pierre Bourdieu’s work on practice theory in general. Gomez explains how Bourdieu offers a systemic view of practice that highlights the importance of relations between agents and with the field, the capital possessed by these actors and their habitus. She argues that research on strategy can benefit greatly from Bourdieu’s praxeology. In particular, a Bourdieusian perspective allows one to overcome false dichotomies in strategy and strategizing: the micro/macro alternative, the opposition between structure and agency, and the dilemma between rationality and emerging strategy. In addition, the perspective can help us to better understand the various struggles that characterize strategy and the role of academics in these struggles.

Keywords

strategy as practicepractice approachBourdieusian perspectivefalse dichotomies
Type
Chapter
Information
Cambridge Handbook of Strategy as Practice , pp. 147 - 162
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2025

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