Symbolic Violence, By Pierre Bourdieu

Symbolic violence is hard to identify, but is ever present in all aspects of American society. It exists in the legal, educational, and penal systems continuously, and has for as long as the United States of America has existed. Taking a closer look at these institutions will uncover what was designed to remain hidden, which is the enforcement of a hegemonic code, designed to promote adherence to the dominant portions of society. This code is in place to keep the elite classes in society in power, and the minority populations powerless to upheave the system. The “elite” classes being referred to are rich whites, and in some cases middle class whites who have held the power in American society, for as long as there has been one. The main argument
First, it is important to understand where the idea of symbolic violence came from. One of the major contributors to the topic is a French academic named Pierre Bourdieu. In a lecture at the University of San Diego in 1986, Bourdieu outlined his theory on how symbolic capital, which is a combination of economic and social capital, provides the means for individuals to create a legitimate society in which a certain social capital is valued above all others. Possessing large amounts of symbolic capital allows for those who hold power to impose their desired form of social capital on those who are less powerful then they are. (Bourdieu, 21, 1986) This promotion of a singular social capital creates a hegemony that all others in society are expected to assimilate and conform to. The forced assimilation to a single social capital is symbolic violence according to Daniel Schubert. He goes on to state that cultural hegemony itself, in a multicultural society such as the United States, is symbolic violence and allows for the domination of one group over another. (Schubert, 2002) Schubert’s point in his article is that the assimilation to a
schools. An article by Sheila Shannon and Kathy Escamilla highlights the struggles faced by these children in U.S schools. Not only are the schools underfunded in areas with a high Latino population, but there is a visible discrimination against Latino culture and the Spanish language. (Shannon and Escamilla, 1999) There was a push under the Reagan administration, fueled by American nationalism, for English to be designated as the official language of the United States. By designating English as the official language of the country, it would have completely devalued the heritage and culture of these new immigrants and force assimilation into the dominant culture. Similarly, to John Hagan’s article, the immigrants examined in Shannon and Escamilla’s article faced an uphill battle to preserve their social capital. When looking at the demographics of the teachers examined in Shannon and Escamilla’s article, there was a similar trend to that of Herr and Anderson’s, which is that there were primarily white, middle aged women trying to teach groups of young minority children. In Shannon and Escamilla’s article, one teacher is overheard complaining that there is nothing that they can do about the cheating problem at the school, mainly because “that’s just how they are”. (Shannon and Escamilla, 357, 1999) This demonstrates the negative assumptions that the