Field Theory, the Economy, and Space. A “Social Space/Field” Approach.

Are spatial transformations, such as the decline of former industrial regions in Western Europe, direct consequences of economic structural and cyclical shifts? What mechanisms drive the visible spatial dynamics that reorganize and polarize production chains? And how can we best analyse the interdependence between physical space and economic processes? To address these questions, this article develops a theoretical framework built on Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of social space and fields. We illustrate this framework with examples from diverse socio-historical contexts, drawing on Bourdieu and Sayad’s research in colonial Algeria and France as well as Bourdieu’s analysis of the housing market in The Social Structures of the Economy. We argue that social space and its dynamics constitute the central mechanism linking economic inputs – such as organizational and technological innovation or growth patterns – to spatial processes, like the rise of booming cities or the rapid decline of specific regions.