The article critically discusses the theoretical and methodological concepts of the studies of information users, considering the historicality, totality and the contradictions of capitalist society as constitutors of the informational practices of users. The current traditional and alternative approaches to information users have been shown to be limited, because they do not cover the complexity of the aspects that shape the users and their social constitution. These theories disregard the historical-social dimension of human action, focusing only on the individual action. One understands that to comprehend the informational practices of subjects, it is necessary to put them into historical perspective, considering that subjectivity is not separated from the social structure. In order to build a method or a critical point of view, the adoption of the categories of analysis developed by Pierre Bourdieu is suggested. The categories habitus, social field and capital are presented in an attempt to understand the informational practices built at the cross-roads between social relationships based on exploitation of one class by another (and the domination of one group by another) and the subjective perceptions of individuals.
Method; Informational practices; Information users