Is Althusser's 'Problematic' and Bourdieu's 'Habitus' similar? What does 'problematic' mean in contemporary academia?

Question

Is Althusser's 'Problematic' and Bourdieu's 'Habitus' similar? What does 'problematic' mean in contemporary academia?

Althusser defines problematic as, "the ideological structure or framework within which particular problems are set up. The problematic may involve an interlocking set of presuppositions, or a closed space that disguises the correct options and allows only prejudged solutions."

Bourdieu's habitus is defined as "systems of durable, transposable dispositions, structured structures predisposed to function as structuring structures, that is, as principles which generate and organize practices and representations that can be, objectively adapted to their outcomes, without presupposing a conscious aiming at ends or an express mastery of the operations necessary in order to attain them."

Are these two similar, in that they are both sets of principles which are unique and allows only certain practices?

What do academics from Humanities subjects, mean when they speak of "problematic"?

Answer 1

Althusser is following the standard social sciences definition of the term 'problematic', with a somewhat wordy and dismal slant. The basic idea is to expand the scope of a problem or issue to consider all the factors that contribute to it. Thus we can say that the wealth divide in the US is a problem, but the problematic would look at US economic policy, cultural attitudes, the psychological predispositions of late-stage capitalism, linguistic norms and elements that color all discussions of the issue, etc…; everything that forms the context in which the wealth divide occurs.

Bourdieu's Habitus is philosophical perspective on societies, which I suppose we could call a general problematic for social science research problems. The term isn't normally used that way — we'd usually just call the Habitus a social theory — but it isn't wrong to think of it like that. Typically though, a problematic is more focused: the context of a specific problem, not a generalized worldview.