According to Bourdieu (1994), there are social fields where the economic logic works upside down. Therefore, the expression "family business" is paradoxical because inside it resides two distinct and, sometimes, antagonistic logics: the business logic, which goal is the profit, and the family logic, which aims at the common welfare. That is why one must consider the symbolical exchanges influences on the social relations more than in any other kind of company. Based on these concepts, this research presents an overview of the small and medium Brazilian family business universe.
Brazilian family business; economic logic; symbolical exchanges