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workit-hki.bsky.social
WORK-IT
@workit-hki.bsky.social
25 followers 23 following 23 posts
ERC-funded research group at the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Theology
🌐 helsinki.fi/work-it
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workit-hki.bsky.social
Our research group had the pleasure of attending the EABS Annual Conference at Uppsala University this June. We presented our project, shared ideas, and had great discussions with colleagues from across Europe. A great thank you to the organizers!

#EABS2025 #ERCAdG #WORKIT #UniversityOfHelsinki
July 17, 2025 at 10:05 AM
workit-hki.bsky.social
🎉 We are excited to announce our new blog series, WORK-ing Thoughts, where we’ll bring you insights from our researchers as they share their unique perspectives, research journeys, and methodologies.

📅 The first post launches next week!

#workit #ERCAdG #universityofhelsinki #blog
April 10, 2025 at 10:15 AM
workit-hki.bsky.social
🔍 Last week, we introduced Bourdieu’s Field Theory. Today, we are exploring its three key concepts: Field, Capital, and Habitus. These elements shape social spaces, power dynamics, and how we navigate them⬇️

#workit #ERCAdG #universityofhelsinki #Bourdieu
Field refers to a structured social space where individuals or groups compete for resources, influence, and recognition. Each field has its own rules and power dynamics. The positions people hold within a field are shaped by their relationships with others, and as these positions shift, the field evolves. Capital is the resource individuals compete for within a field. It goes beyond just economic wealth—it includes social capital (connections and networks), cultural capital (knowledge, education, and skills), and symbolic capital (recognition and prestige). Those who control capital hold more power, while others strive to accumulate it to improve their position. Habitus is the ingrained mindset and behaviours shaped by one’s background and experiences. It influences how individuals act within a field. While habitus can change over time, it tends to be deeply rooted, shaping how people navigate different fields.
April 2, 2025 at 11:02 AM
workit-hki.bsky.social
🔍 Continuing from last week’s introduction to Bourdieu—let’s briefly take a look at his Field Theory.

#ERCAdG #workit #universityofhelsinki #Bourdieu
A triangular infographic showing key terms in Bourdieu's Field Theory: Field, capital and habitus. The text reads: Bourdieu's Field Theory explains how different social spaces operate with their own rules and power dynamics. A field is not just a physical place but a structured environment where individuals or groups (called "actors") hold different positions. These positions determine their influence and access to resources, also known as capital, which actors compete for within the field. Fields are constantly changing as this competition for status and power, reshapes the structure of the field itself. To participate effectively, actors must follow certain unwritten rules—what Bourdieu calls habitus—which help maintain stability within the field.
March 26, 2025 at 11:30 AM
workit-hki.bsky.social
🧠 WORK-IT uses Bourdieusian Field Analysis to understand taxation, labor, and their interrelations within ancient states — but who is Bourdieu?

📷: Thierry Ehrmann on Flickr
#ERCAdG #work-it #helsinki #bourdieu
Portrait of Pierre Bourdieu painted on a column in black and white. Text reading: Who is Pierre Bourdieu? Bourdieu (1930-2002), is a groundbreaking French sociologist whose work continues to shape the humanities and social sciences. His concept of Habitus describes how social environments shape our perceptions, behaviours and preferences. In his work 'La Distinction (1979)', Bourdieu argues that taste is not merely a personal choice but shaped by one's field–the social and cultural environment which one operates. Those with high social and cultural capital define what is considered good taste, reinforcing class distinctions. His insights remain highly relevant in discussions on culture, power and inequality.
March 20, 2025 at 11:44 AM
workit-hki.bsky.social
🔎How did ancient societies organize work, distribute resources, and meet imperial demands? Our ERC-funded project (2025-2029), explores these questions by studying informal taxation and forced labor in temple economies of the Persian and Southern Levantine world.
#ERCAdG #work-it #helsinki
The image contains an infographic with circles and arrows. The graphic is meant to form the question: How did ancient societies work, distribute resources and meet imperial demands? The answer is: Hidden social structures such as informal taxation and forced labor. The image contains a text describing the research group's topic and aim. The text reads: Instead of focusing only on official taxation, WORK-IT examines the hidden social structures that sustained imperial economies. For example, when a ruler granted materials for construction but not the labor to transport and use them, local communities had to organize work themselves—an often-overlooked form of taxation. The project also moves beyond slavery to consider other forms of unfree labor, such as corvée work (temporary, unpaid labor required by authorities). By combining historical sources from temples with Bourdieusian Field Theory, WORK-IT aims to uncover how labor and taxation shaped ancient societies—and how modern assumptions might be limiting our understanding of pre-industrial economies.
March 5, 2025 at 12:33 PM
workit-hki.bsky.social
📢 Meet the WORK-IT Team!

#ERCAdG #firstpost #research @helsinki.fi @erc.europa.eu
A photo of 8 people followed by the text: Meet the WORK-IT team! Our research explores informal taxation, forced labor, and Levantine temples in Bourdieusian frame. An image with the following text : WORK-IT launched in September 2024 as an ERC-funded project and will run until August 2029. Our research examines informal taxation and forced labor in the Persian and Southern Levantine temple economies, exploring how labor obligations shaped economic structures and social hierarchies. The project is based at the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Theology. Our interdisciplinary team of historians, archaeologists, and social scientists brings together diverse expertise to tackle these questions. Here’s the team behind the project—stay tuned as we introduce our researchers and their work in the coming weeks!
February 26, 2025 at 11:00 AM