Policy analysis has constructed its own concepts to describe groups and relations within the policy process. The latter include notions such as ‘policy networks’ or ‘policy communities’, ‘iron triangles’, ‘advocacy coalitions’, ‘issue networks’, ‘epistemic communities’, or in French academic literature ‘concrete action systems’ and ‘policy sectors’. Yet Bourdieu’s field sociology remains seldom applied in this subject. Field theory can nevertheless prove particularly useful in avoiding normative bias or the analytical limitations of ad hoc policy analysis categories. It is very helpful in objectifying the specific positions and systems of relations in which decisions and policies are made. It can also contribute to the understanding of both concrete relations and the more abstract relationship between this specific field (policy field, stricto sensu) and other social fields : first those directly concerned with a particular policy (for instance the arts field vs cultural policy) ; second those involved at different levels of policy making (e.g. the scientific field providing expertise to shed light on a problem or used by policy makers in a legitimization strategy). This article advocates a more systematic use of field theory in policy analysis. It shows how this theory could be incorporated into policy analysis, which has been constructed as a specific academic subject, in sociological research and theory. It displays examples taken from Bourdieu’s work (on the State, on housing policy, on the ‘field of power’), and from recent research (on cultural and social policies for instance).

En permettant de dépasser les fausses oppositions et les limites des notions ad hoc souvent mobilisées dans les approches dominantes de l’analyse des politiques publiques, le mode de pensée relationnel de la théorie des champs offre une base utile à la construction des politiques d’Etat comme un objet à part entière de l’analyse sociologique. Cet article propose dans cette perspective de mobiliser le concept de champ pour analyser l’action publique en tant qu’elle est fondéee socialement sur des relations entre espaces sociaux distincts et contribue en retour à les structurer.

This paper is based on research on wind music in France, where this music is situated at the lowest level in the cultural hierarchy. We examine this music from three points of view : (1) in light of its position in the musical field, (2) as a specific sub-field and (3) at the local level of concrete practices. Then, thanks to the socio-cultural mapping of the orchestras and of their musicians, we establish various combinations of these three levels in the concrete and symbolic organization of musical activities. This framework allows us to evaluate the various degrees of exposure to cultural domination and the possibilities of escaping it.