Cleft Habitus

The concept of habitus has a long history and has been well established within the field of contemporary sociology. However, the same is hardly true for the concept of cleft habitus discussed by Pierre Bourdieu. In Bourdieu’s theory of practice, habitus stands for the embodiment of the social, for an agent’s practical knowledge structured and formed by social conditions, and for that which enables an agent to feel “like a fish in the water” and respond adequately to various social situations. Yet this practical mastery depends on the habitus – as a system of dispositions – being realized in the conditions that are similar (enough) to the conditions of its formation. In the case of the gap between the conditions of habitus formation and the conditions of its realization or actualization, the so-called cleft habitus can emerge. Being placed at the intersection of discrepant conditions, cleft habitus makes it difficult for an agent to feel “like a fish in the water” and is characterized by ambivalent affective experience. Given the increasing social differentiation and structural transformations, including the generalized access to schooling, the chances for habitus misfiring – of being out of place – are increasing. In this sense, the concept of cleft habitus is of particular significance because it provides insights into the experiences of precarious social positions, of belonging to the opposing social worlds simultaneously but, at the same time, to none of them fully. The relevance of the concept has been recognized as it has been increasingly put into use, especially in the studies of social mobility, particularly through the educational system.