PPE Notes Sociological Theory Notes
Notes on ideology, class, and methodology. Including summaries of Bourdieu, Durkheim, Weber, Zizek, Marx and Giddens....
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Chapter Two - Symbolic Violence: Language and power in the writings of Pierre Bourdieu
Reproduction of legitimate language
Bourdieu attacks the separation of language from the social conditions of its production
to practice this separation is ‘tacitly to accept the official definition of the official language of a political unit’
so linguistic practices represent power structures
we must reconstruct the historical process by which a unified and asymmetrically structures linguistic market was formed
In France, this process began with the promotion of the Ile de France dialect to the status of official language
this gave the bourgeoisie de facto monopoly over the political apparatus and central power
this was pushed forwards by the educational system, which came to be seen as the principal means of access to the labour market
this leads to symbolic domination, where those dominated apply the dominant criteria of evaluation to their own practices
i.e. judge their shortcomings in terms of their position in the language market etc.
Power and the performative utterance
Speakers do not just acquire linguistic competence, whereby they can use grammar correctly
the also acquire practical competence, whereby they can produce the appropriate sentence
philosophers (e.g. Chomsky) who hold the former doctrine neglect the social conditions for the establishment of communication
in some situations certain individuals or groups of individuals, are effectively excluded from communication - there are relations of force here
Utterances such as ‘I do’ and ‘I name this ship the Queen Elizabeth’ Bourdieu calls performative utterances
the efficacy of performative utterances cannot be separated from the institution which defines the conditions to be fulfilled for the utterance to be effective
there must be authority, or symbolic capital, behind the statement
Authority comes from outside language, so we must examine the structures and properties of the linguistic markets within which expressions are exchanged
Linguistic Markets
Linguistic markets (in which expressions are exchanged) have certain structures
these markets are the site of struggles between entrants, who seek to alter its structure in their favour, and established agents/groups, who seek to preserve the order
hence the structure of the market is a certain state of the relation of force between the agents/groups engaged in struggle
There are different markets to represent different kinds of capital - symbolic, economic, cultural etc
capital acquired in one market can be converted into capital in another market
e.g. educational qualifications can lead to lucrative jobs
Despite the antagonism, those engaged in struggles share an interest in preserving the market (why?)
hence they help to reproduce the game
Variations in accent, syntax and vocabulary are all socially marked, and mark the speakers that employ them
this can be seen from even the most elementary or intimate exchange
the hierarchy of language can be inverted, but only successfully by those at the top of the power hierarchy
e.g. a politician may talk in a dialect at a formal occasion, and hence negate the objective relation of force between the two languages, but in reality this actually serves to reinforce the hierarchy
Linguistic habitus and corporeal hexis
The linguistic habitus governs our linguistic practices and our anticipation of the value that our linguistic products will receive on other markets e.g. school, labour market
for the dominant class, there is a correspondence between the requirements of most markets and the dispositions of the habitus
the can speak confidently, with ease
the hyper-correction of the petit bourgeoisie speaks of a class seeking to produce linguistic expressions that bear the mark of a habitus other than their own
for the subordinate classes, their linguistic products are often assigned limited value
hence elimination from the education system
Symbolic violence
There are societies with objective institutions for sustaining relations of domination, and societies without
in societies without, relations of domination must be continually renewed
they are achieved through symbolic violence - a gentle, invisible form of violence, in which if the true nature of the relationship were revealed violence would ensue
e.g. the violence of confidence, of personal loyalty, of the gify, of the debt, of recognition, of piety etc
in societies with such institutions, individuals need not have strategies aimed at domination; violence is built into the institution
e.g. the education system is arbitrary (cannot be derived from universal reasoning), but is embedded in power structures - it seeks to reproduce the existing relations of domination
the education system simultaneously reproduces and legitimates those relations, by presenting itself as autonomous, and hence concealing its reproduction of social hierarchies
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Notes on ideology, class, and methodology. Including summaries of Bourdieu, Durkheim, Weber, Zizek, Marx and Giddens....
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