The Lost Bourdieu Interview (Articles) (Interview‪)‬

Introduction I spent a sabbatical in France from July 1980 to June 1981. On 22 June 1981, shortly before leaving France, I interviewed Pierre Bourdieu in his office in the Ecole des Hautes Etudes in the Boulevard Raspail. I think it was somebody at EHESS who arranged this--probably Marie-France Toinet. I do remember Bourdieu and his manner very strongly. I was struck by the intensity of his reflection and the surprising warmth and intellectual openness. Perhaps he felt some sympathy for a foreigner, perhaps it was his admiration, as someone from the rugby-playing South West, for the Springboks (something he mentioned as he introduced himself), perhaps it was a chance to think through things with somebody far removed from the French intellectual field. There might also, on reflection, simply have been a generosity of spirit for someone out of his depth, doing what was clearly his first interview. (I seem to have managed to have the cassette recorder go off at key moments, something he managed to correct at least once.)