The thematic part of the fourth issue of Practical Sense gathers articles on what Bourdieu called self-socioanalyses. While several scholars have focused on “transfuges de classes,” “class defectors” or “class migrants,” as a particular social group and type of trajectory, or on “transclass” narratives in general, few studies have used the tools of the sociology of publishing to examine the publications in this area. Although the articles in this issue may seem rather franco-centric, international interest in many of the authors involved and the circulation of their works confirms that their significance is in no way restricted to a particular national context. The French context, which does represent a particularly vivid case, will hopefully stimulate studies about other countries and provoke international comparisons.
The current issue contains articles about different aspects of the topic. Rose-Marie Lagrave first narrates in a reflexive manner the editorial making and reception of her book Se ressaisir. Enquête autobiographique d’une transfuge de classe féministe [Pulling Oneself Together: An Autobiographical Inquiry by a Feminist Class Defector], an empirically based inquiry to understand the social trajectory that led her from a Catholic rural background to the position of Director of research at École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales (EHESS) in Paris. As narratives of class migrants have now entered a global circulation, Carolina Pulici and Jéssica Ronconi tackle the case of such narratives in Brazil, by showing the reproduction of the traditional cultural import-export between central and peripheral nations. Sophie Noël focuses on the editorial making of one of the most famous of these stories, En finir avec Eddy Bellegueule [The End of Eddy] by Édouard Louis.
Moving from the publishing pole to the reception, Lucas Pontzeele studies the effects of such narratives on French upwardly mobile individuals. In a reflexive attempt to better understand this phenomenon, Matthias Fringant retraces the main social uses of the words “transfuges (de classe)”/ “transclasses” and their English translations. Finally, Marco Pitzalis reviews a recent and important study on the subject, Trahir et Venger. Paradoxes des récits de transfuges de classe [Betrayal and Revenge: Paradoxes in the Narratives of Class Defectors] by French linguists Laélia Véron and Karine Abiven.
Each one of these relatively short articles draws upon extensive research. The objective in bringing them together is to draw attention to some of their most important results, and, by uniting them in a single issue, to contribute to overcoming the usual separation of different research areas of sociology.
The issue, furthermore, contains the usual rubrics. First, an events section featuring short notes about recent manifestations: a Nobel symposium held in Sweden, a tribute to the late Brazilian social scientist Afrânio Garcia in Paris, a conference by the Grupo de Estudos em Bourdieu (GEBU) in Brazil, and the first edition of the Bourdieu Lectures held in Bielefeld, Germany. Then, a list of recent books inspired by Pierre Bourdieu’s work.
Finally, we would like to draw the attention of our readers to an important aspect of our enterprise. Since its launch in December 2024, the Newsletter has reached hundreds of scholars all around the world, many of whom have expressed a keen interest and a lot of enthusiasm for the new publication. While editors receive a small reimbursement for their work, members of the Board and all others involved do their work voluntarily and for free. The finances of the Newsletter derive from the sale of Pierre Bourdieu’s photographs to the museum Centre Pompidou in 2024. While it has allowed launching the Newsletter and publishing it during the first years, this capital is running short and we are actively seeking alternative sources of funding to keep the activities going.
The Newsletter is therefore very grateful for any donation, large and small, specified or general, anonymous or denominated. We are also grateful for any suggestions for possible support, financial or otherwise. As the Fondation Bourdieu is being transferred from Switzerland to Paris, Éditions Raisons d’Agir will temporarily host the donations. For any further queries, please contact us at: donations@fondationbourdieu.net
The editorial team