Practices as the New Fundamental Social Formation in the Knowledge Society*

The language of rules and models, which seems tolerable when applied to “alien” practices, ceases to convince as soon as one considers the practical mastery of the symbolism of social interaction– tact, dexterity, or savoir-faire– presupposed by the most everyday games of sociability and accompanied by the application of a spontaneous semiology, i.e. a mass of precepts, fomulae, and codified cues. This practical knowledge, based on the continuous decoding of the perceived– but not consciously noticed– indices of the welcome given to actions already accomplished, continuously carries out the checks and corrections intended to ensure the adjustment of practices and expressions to the reactions and expectations of the other agents. It functions like a self-regulating device programmed to redefine courses of action in accordance with information received on the reception of information transmitted and on the effects produced by that information. (1977: 10-11)