Bourdieu’s theory of practice as an analytical framework for rural political dynamics and agricultural–rural development

This study analyzes the dynamics of rural politics and agricultural–rural development in Indonesia using Pierre Bourdieu’s theory of practice as the main analytical framework. Through a qualitative approach and conceptual–relational analysis, this study examines how farmers’ habitus, the distribution of capital (economic, social, cultural, and symbolic), and the configuration of the village arena interact to shape development practices and local political contestations. Agrarian studies and rural ethnographies are used as empirical illustrations to demonstrate how power is reproduced through symbolic mechanisms, how development doxa influences actors’ responses, and how hysteresis emerges in situations of rapid change within the arena. The analysis shows that rural development is not a neutral technocratic process but rather an arena of capital struggles and strategic negotiations among village elites, smallholders, large landowners, bureaucrats, and external actors. Bourdieu’s practice framework enables a sharper reading of power relations, shifts in the habitus, and the persistence of agrarian inequalities. This study offers both theoretical and practical contributions to agrarian studies, rural political analysis, and the formulation of development policies that are more inclusive and sensitive to social contexts.