Symbolic Violence: A Sociological Analysis

764 Words4 Pages
One of the most current forms of social inequality is symbolic violence, a sociological theory developed by the sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. The word, symbolic violence, descibes the social differences occuring as a part of our everyday life. Social norms developed through time, becoming part of our habitus. But in order to understand symbolic violence, one has to understand habitus. Using Bourdieus own words, he would say that habitus is structures structures predisposed to function as structural structures. Habitus can be explained as systems of values and norms. It is cultural habits one lives by as an individual or as a part of a larger group, developed unconsiously through experiences and activities. According to Bourdieu, many struggles…show more content…
Symbolic violence arise through interaction between multiple agents, occuring in situations of dominance, due to an unreflecting support by the agent whom is dominated. (Bourdieu and Waquant 2008) “First, a strict spatial partitioning: the closing of the town and its outlying districts, a prohibition to leave the town on pain of death, the killing of all stray animals; the division of the town into distinct quarters, each governed by an intendant. Each street is placed under the authority of a syndic, who keeps it under surveillance; if he leaves the street, he will be condemned to death.” (Foucault 1975) Living in today’s post-materialistic society, we are used to being monitored. The Panopticon is an institutional building designed in order of being able to watch all inmates at the same…show more content…
There exist four major types of technologies: first of all there is the technology of production, secondly, the technology of sign systems, number third is the technology of power, determining power relations between people and at last there is the technology of the self, which allows individuals to act by their own choices or with the help from others. The technology of the self is the whole jurny towards figuring out who you are as an individual. (Foucault 1982) The media plays a big role in todays post-materialistic society. Every young individual has a facebook profile, and if you do not have an instagram profile to, you have heard about the application. Instagram is an application whereupon people post pictures and videos. Creating a perfect picture of the lives they live. A couple of weeks ago I read an article where a young girl, Essena O’Neill, decribed her life as being a “instagrammer”. Her career was to post the best pictures on the application, getting money for every “like” the pictures got. (Hunt
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