ABSTRACT
Pierre Bourdieu is uniquely qualified to cast a discerning light on the nature of oppression in modern society. His meta-theory, outlining the nature of human agency within society, has a particular purchase for social workers who are committed to anti-oppressive practice. For Bourdieu, meta-theorising is a form of socio-analysis where, comparatively speaking, the social theorist is to the social unconscious of society, as the psycho-analyst is to the patient’s unconscious mind. Both approaches foster insight into not only the blind spots of human experience, but also the possibility of human betterment. More stridently, socio-analysis enables the social theorist to ‘avoid being the toy of social forces’ (Bourdieu and Wacquant, 1992: 183). Once the social theorist comprehends the nature of such forces, he or she will be in a much better position to control them.
