Bourdieu conceptualizes cultural production as a relatively autonomous field structured by unequal positions, competing forms of capital and struggles over legitimacy. Artistic value does not arise solely from intrinsic qualities or individual genius; it is produced through relations among creators, critics, publishers, institutions, markets and audiences. The field operates through a double economy in which symbolic recognition may oppose immediate commercial success while eventually generating durable authority. Bourdieu’s methodological contribution is relational: no position can be understood in isolation from the forces, histories and possible positions surrounding it. Habitus connects these objective structures to embodied dispositions, explaining how agents reproduce or contest the field without following explicit rules. This framework avoids both economic reductionism and idealist accounts of autonomous creativity. It bridges sociology, art history, literary theory and institutional critique by revealing how cultural legitimacy is accumulated, distributed and converted into material and symbolic power.
