Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: This exposition analyzes lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer subculture(s) in terms of the reproduction of gendered hierarchies and stratification that mirrors the dominant, heteronormative Western culture. It is found in literature pertaining to identitiy politics and the body politic which LGBTQ subcultures utilize in attempts to resist dominant culture, hierarchies that reproduce and cater to heteronormatives are found pervasive. Utilizing the theories of Pierre Bourdieu, reproduction of gendered stratification is found in habitus and fields through cultural restraints, practices as a means of capital, ownership of LGBTQ identities as specialization, and the marketing of the Queer as a rational, money-making means.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Bourdieu?s social theory has become a new reference point in IR theory. Initially only used in New European Security Theory (NEST), Bourdieus concepts of capital, field and practice is increasingly adopted to think other transnational spaces then the field of security. Bourdieu?s concepts certainly have opened new intellectual space to think of international relations differently ? and critically. The field concept has provided an alternative metaphor to the container of the nation state. Capital has proved to be useful concept to acknowledge that there is more then one face of power ? seven, if you want. The concept of practice in its discursive and non-discursive expressions has finally made it to be a concept of analytical worth in the IR discourse, and Bourdieu might help to return practice to the linguistic turn ? to paraphrase Iver Neumann. Although, most likely Bourdieu will face Habermas? fate ? to be disciplined in the disciplinary canon (which will be proved when we see the first ?Bourdieu inspired? article in International Organizations), this paper engages with a non-disciplinary, direct critique of Bourdieu?s theory in the first place. In discussing the telling critique expressed by Bruno Latour, I will question if Bourdieu?s conceptual tools will be useful in future to think transnational spaces and a ?world society?.The paper will proceed in three steps. First, I will discuss Latour?s critique on Bourdieus use of the economic metaphor, which indicates the importance to find a balance between Bourdieus and Foucaults version of power and authority ? of having power and of being in power. From this perspective it becomes clear that Bourdieus solution for the agency-structure dilemma (the field) is problematic. Next, I will ask in what way the Bourdieuan problem has become an IR problem. In reviewing some of the ?Bourdieu-inspired? analyses of transnational spaces in IR, I will investigate in what way scholars have already fallen in the ?field trap?. As the review will reveal, (most) scholars have acknowledged the problem, and have, innovatively, added a disciplinary shot of Foucault to their studies. However, the risks still prevail and not all of the solutions are convincing. Thus, I will, thirdly, sketch an alternative of studying transnational spaces by relying on what has been called the sociology of translation. In introducing the principles and vocabulary of this school of thought, and discussing some of the parallels to existing ?relational? accounts in IR, I argue that this basic vocabulary not only prevents us from falling in the ?field trap?, but can guide research of a new type. In resisting the disciplinary obligation that every good paper needs at least an empirical case study, I will conclude by a summary of the argument and by sketching elements of an international sociology of translation. In sum, the paper questions a ?new fashion? of the disciplinary sociological turn in adding and translating some non-disciplinary thoughts.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Worldwide health organizations have found ways to incorporate health promotion messages into popular television entertainment in order to reach the so-called ‘hard to reach’ groups. This approach is known as the entertainment-education (EE) strategy. In the Netherlands several health organizations establish partnership arrangements with the television industry and pay a certain amount of ‘capital’ to have the prosocial issue dealt with in popular television programmes. A greater insight into the collaboration aspects of the design and production process of these entertainment-education television programmes is crucial for the effective implementation of the EE strategy. An academic debate would involve questions like: How is the programme content selected and created? How do health communication and television professionals collaborate? And, what are the hindering and facilitating collaboration factors? In this paper Bourdieu's theory of Field of Practice is used in order to create a frame of reference for the empirical study into this collaboration process between the television and health communication field. Differences in field mechanisms played a significant role in the complexity of the collaboration. In many cases there was an unbalanced collaboration setting (asymmetry of power). This imbalance can only be resolved by jointly creating a new frame of reference. Criteria that normally apply for pure educational or pure entertainment television programs formats do not fit with the criteria for EE genres. Therefore EE television programs should become a new genre and as such be accepted and consecrated in both the television and the health communication fields.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Up to date, the work of Pierre Bourdieu has been ill understood in International Relations theory. This paper will discuss some fundamental concepts and illustrate their use in international research with the example of a recent research project on security management in Europe, focussing on the restructuring of the European police and domestic security agendas. The paper will notably elaborate the use of the concept of ?fields? and the problems of its operationalisation in transnational empirical research.

Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Over the past two decades an exciting new set of approaches to the history of international relations has focused on the role of culture in general and the cultural roots of policy-formulation and decision-making in particular. Cultural approaches have both broadened and deepened our understanding of the nature of international politics and the sources of policy making. They have helped to breath new life into the study of international history. But this approach has also been criticised for deploying an insufficiently rigorous conceptualisation of culture and for exaggerating the role of belief systems and cultural reflexes at the expense of structural factors. The central argument of the paper is that the social theory of Pierre Bourdieu provides a more rigorous and systematic approach to understanding the cultural roots of policy formulation and decision making than those deployed to date by culturalist international historians. Bourdieu’s theoretical insights shed light on the nature of cultural beliefs and practices and provide a framework for analysing the dynamic relationship between the cultural predispositions of policy-makers and the external structures that limit their policy choices. Deploying Bourdieu’s concepts could therefore allow scholars to overcome provide more comprehensive analyses of social dynamics of international politics.