Abstract

This article deals with the potentials in the use of Pierre Bourdieu's concept of "habitus" in the analysis of professional practices. After recounting the use of "habitus" in Bourdieu's contributions to sociology of work, the essay presents the findings of an empirical study on the professional practices in the corporate communication field. The article shows how, on the one hand, the concept of habitus helps to explain the logics of action in work contexts overcoming the objectivist-subjectivist antinomy; on the other, it unveils the tacit dimension of 'communication skills' emerging from the relationship between agent's dispositions and the social structure of professional field. Finally, agent's reflexivity is problematized in order to highlight how the individual agency might matter in professional practices.