Bourdieu, Capital and Conflict in a Religious Field: The Case of the ‘Homosexuality’ Conflict in the Anglican Communion

Although Bourdieu's sociological project is a generalised sociology of religion, his work has not been as influential among sociologists of religion as one might have expected it to be. In this article we provide an overview of Bourdieu's analysis of religion, paying particular attention to key problems that have been identified in the literature and suggesting how his work can be understood in such a way as to overcome these limitations. Drawing upon research by two of the authors, we show how Bourdieu's sociology is helpful for understanding the conflicts over sexuality in the Anglican Communion.