AUTONOMY, POWER AND DISPUTE: THE DOUBLE FACE OF SCIENCE IN BOURDIEU

Abstract

This article analyzes the dynamics of autonomy, power, and dispute structuring the scientific field from Pierre Bourdieu's perspective. The objective is to understand how the theoretical categories of field, symbolic capital, and habitus reveal science as a social space marked by power relations and strategies of legitimation. The methodology adopted is qualitative bibliographic research, based on the analysis of Bourdieu’s key works and complementary literature on the sociology of science. The results indicate that the scientific field is not a neutral space but a field of symbolic struggles where science’s autonomy is constantly challenged by political, economic, and institutional interests. Scientific production is thus subject to mechanisms of exclusion, hierarchy, and instrumentalization that influence knowledge access and circulation. From this analysis, it is concluded that Bourdieu's critical understanding of the scientific field is essential to promote a more reflective, ethical, and socially committed science. The study also highlights the need for future research to empirically investigate these dynamics and broaden the dialogue with intersectional and decolonial perspectives.