Field Autonomy and Division of the Labour of Domination: The Case of the Danish Field of Power

How are power translated from being tied to a specific field to become useful in a broader societal setting? This relationship between powers derived from holding a particular position in an established field and the efficacy of the power in what Pierre Bourdieu calls the field of power is the key concern of this paper. In other words, we ask: How is the relationship between different structure of the field of power and structure of the different fields that compose the field of power? We analyse the relationship between positions in the fields and the positions of the field of power through a class specific analysis of the Danish field of power constructed through multiple correspondence analysis. We base the construction of the field of power on a very detailed prosopographical database of 423 individuals located at the core of Danish power networks in 2013. We then analyse the logics of how individuals from business, unions, state, politics and science are positioned on the field of power. We show how each of these fields are, at the same time, related to the overall structure of the field of power and to field specific, i.e. autonomous, logics. With these fields, we typically find a predominately two dimensional structure. Of these the first is often related to the position of agents of the field of power as a whole. However , the second dimension is often tied to field specific logics, i.e. the oppositions between owners and managers on the economic field, between blue and white collar unions within the field of organised labour, within researchers and administrators within the academic field or between local and national politicians within the political field. How are power translated from being tied to a specific field to become useful in a broader societal setting? This relationship between powers derived from holding a particular position in an established field and the efficacy of the power in what Pierre Bourdieu calls the field of power is the key concern of this paper. In other words, we ask: How is the relationship between different structure of the field of power and structure of the different fields that compose the field of power? We analyse the relationship between positions in the fields and the positions of the field of power through a class specific analysis of the Danish field of power constructed through multiple correspondence analysis. We base the construction of the field of power on a very detailed prosopographical database of 423 individuals located at the core of Danish power networks in 2013. We then analyse the logics of how individuals from business, unions, state, politics and science are positioned on the field of power. We show how each of these fields are, at the same time, related to the overall structure of the field of power and to field specific, i.e. autonomous, logics. With these fields, we typically find a predominately two dimensional structure. Of these the first is often related to the position of agents of the field of power as a whole. However , the second dimension is often tied to field specific logics, i.e. the oppositions between owners and managers on the economic field, between blue and white collar unions within the field of organised labour, within researchers and administrators within the academic field or between local and national politicians within the political field. How are power translated from being tied to a specific field to become useful in a broader societal setting? This relationship between powers derived from holding a particular position in an established field and the efficacy of the power in what Pierre Bourdieu calls the field of power is the key concern of this paper. In other words, we ask: How is the relationship between different structure of the field of power and structure of the different fields that compose the field of power? We analyse the relationship between positions in the fields and the positions of the field of power through a class specific analysis of the Danish field of power constructed through multiple correspondence analysis. We base the construction of the field of power on a very detailed prosopographical database of 423 individuals located at the core of Danish power networks in 2013. We then analyse the logics of how individuals from business, unions, state, politics and science are positioned on the field of power. We show how each of these fields are, at the same time, related to the overall structure of the field of power and to field specific, i.e. autonomous, logics. With these fields, we typically find a predominately two dimensional structure. Of these the first is often related to the position of agents of the field of power as a whole. However , the second dimension is often tied to field specific logics, i.e. the oppositions between owners and managers on the economic field, between blue and white collar unions within the field of organised labour, within researchers and administrators within the academic field or between local and national politicians within the political field.