Social space, physical space and habitus: theoretical nodes and research directions

Abstract

Spatiality is of great importance in Bourdieu’s sociology, and the notion of habitus is intensively used in current mobility and migration research. Much of this empirical research, however, fails to clarify the relationship between physical and social space, and their interrelation with habitus. This paper draws on the analytical distinction between social and physical space, and seeks theoretical connections in Bourdieu’s and his followers’ (Berger 2018, Reed-Danahay 2020) sociology that point out how these two kinds of space mutually constitute each other. Embodied habitus, the materiality of home and being at home, movement and mobility not only interrelate social and physical space, but indicate new directions for empirical research. These theoretical connections can be synthesized by the notion of social trajectory, which partially dissolves the dilemma of migration and mobility, and opens up the examination of the interrelation between habitus and physical space (cf. Berger 2018). The focus on the interrelation of physical and social space and their interplay with habitus can make the notion of habitus more dynamic, which is often considered deterministic.