Vincent de Gauléjac
Pierre Bourdieu was invited to the Laboratory for Social Change (Paris Cité University) in 2002 to lead a seminar entitled "Life History and Theoretical Choices." This provided an opportunity for an in-depth exchange between his proposed "socioanalysis" and clinical sociology. This article describes the divergences and convergences between the renowned sociologist's work and Francophone clinical sociology. In particular, it examines his relationship to psychoanalysis, the notions of the subject, subjectivity, and the unconscious, and the coexistence of clinical and critical stances. It also discusses Bourdieu's trajectory as a class defector and reflects on his class neurosis.