For a transnational history of sociology: interview with Gisèle Sapiro

Abstract

Gisèle Sapiro is Director of Research at the CNRS (National Center for Scientific Research) and Director of Studies at the EHESS (European Center for Sociology and Political Science) since 2011, CNRS 2021 Silver Medal. She defended her thesis in 1994 under the guidance of Pierre Bourdieu, mobilizing the concept of field to understand the structural history of the field of literature. Her training and contact with Bourdieu himself and his work make Sapiro one of the successors of the Bourdieusian legacy in France. Sapiro’s works address themes such as the autonomy of fields, the political role of writers and intellectuals, and the circulation of knowledge in an international perspective, especially in relation to Bourdieu’s ideas and especially in the United States. The purpose of this interview with Gisèle Sapiro is to put into perspective the different ways of reading and interpreting Pierre Bourdieu’s work resulting from its translation and its appropriation in Brazil and in the world from the point of view of a specialist who, while bringing her own contributions to critic sociology, has greatly contributed to the dissemination of Bourdieusian ideas. Sapiro’s work deserves the attention of all those who share her intellectual enthusiasm and lay the foundations for a transnational history of sociology.