Intercorporeality at the Motor Block

Abstract

Central to this paper is the analysis of a video sequence in which car mechanics try to solve a technical problem. The sequence is analyzed by means of Pierre Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus and practical sense understood as a sociological reformulation of the phenomenological concept of intercorporeality. It is demonstrated that this sense implies two interrelated dimensions: It functions both as an embodied background foundation for functional problem-solving as well as a sense for social hierarchies. The cooperative solution of a technical problem opens up the stage for power games. In conclusion, the different ways are discussed in which the “twofold” interpretation of the video sequence allows for a specification of “intercorporeality”.