Understanding and Enacting Social Change in Education: Working with Bourdieu
A BSA Bourdieu Study Group Event
11 June 2026 (09:30-18:30 BST)
Istituto Comprensivo Benci-Borsi, Italy
About the Event
Across diverse national contexts, educational systems continue to reproduce deep and persistent forms of domination and inequalities along intersecting dimensions of social class, ethnicity, gender, and (dis)ability. Inequitable access to education, differentiated learning experiences, and stratified outcomes remain evident across all educational levels, from compulsory schooling to higher education and beyond.
In many instances, educational institutions remain sites where non-dominant epistemologies and forms of knowledge are misrecognized, reinforcing processes of symbolic violence and the marginalisation of alternative ways of knowing and relating to the world.
Over recent decades, educational research has devoted sustained attention to these processes, drawing fruitfully on Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical framework and core concepts to illuminate the mechanisms through which domination and inequalities are reproduced.
This seminar builds on this rich tradition while shifting the focus from the reproduction of inequality to the possibilities for change. In this light, we ask how Bourdieu’s work can be mobilised to understand and support processes of social change in and through education. The seminar will foreground the educational experiences and trajectories of students from traditionally underrepresented or marginalised backgrounds. It will also examine policies, practices, and pedagogical approaches that aim to enhance inclusion and actively challenge entrenched inequities.
By bringing together empirical research and critical reflection, the seminar seeks to explore the transformative potential of education, while also engaging with the tensions, limitations, and ongoing challenges involved in attempts to advance more equitable educational futures.
Unlike conventional academic venues, the conference will be hosted within a school – one marked by high levels of diversity and complexity in a medium-sized Italian city – not only as a symbolic choice, but as an invitation to bring Bourdieu’s theoretical toolkit back into conversation with the everyday realities of teachers and practitioners.
Call for Papers
This one-day conference builds on this rich body of scholarship while deliberately shifting the analytical focus from the reproduction of inequality and domination to the possibilities for struggle and social change in and through education. In this light, we invite contributions that critically engage with Bourdieu’s work to understand and work with processes of resistance, transformation, and agency within educational fields and institutions.
The conference will foreground the educational experiences, pathways, and trajectories of students from traditionally underrepresented or marginalised backgrounds. Particular attention will be given to empirical and theoretical work examining inclusive pedagogies, compensatory and redistributive policies, institutional approaches, and everyday practices that aim to challenge entrenched inequities. Contributions may address formal and informal educational settings, comparative or single-country perspectives, and different stages of the life course.
The conference also welcomes contributions from teachers, practitioners, and educators that, while not explicitly drawing on Bourdieu’s theoretical framework, offer reflexive accounts of practice or practice-based interventions aimed at transforming educational contexts to foster inclusion and social justice. Read the full Call for Papers and submit your abstract by Monday, 23 February 2026.
Registration
Registration will open shortly.
Key Dates
- Abstract submission deadline: 23 February 2026
- Decisions sent to applicants: 6 March 2026
- Registration opens: 9 March 2026
- Presenter booking deadline: 17 May 2026
- Registration closes: 31 May 2026