Symbolic Violence

Symbolic violence is defined as the set of thoughts that major institutions instill in the social actor’s frame of thoughts to subordinate their subjects and force them to follow their system of regulations, this is done symbolically without the use of coercive force or physical violence. The main premise of Bourdieu’s concept of symbolic violence is the description of the system of thoughts and perceptions that are enforced by influential institutions in society to dominate the action of the common people in society (Nicolaescu, 2010). This dictating system of thoughts cannot be achieved without the access to power by powerful social groups to facilitate the domination of the less powerful. Power, according to Simpson and Mayr (2009), resides in the state and its diverse institutions as well as in supreme establishments that include churches, businesses, and so forth. The perception of power as dominance in this dimension “focuses on the varying abilities of actors, such as judicial and penal institutions, to secure the compliance of others, even in the face of resistance or insurgence” (Simpson and Mayr, 2009: p.2). Legitimation in this mainstream framework is achieved via language. Language by itself, however, is not powerful, but it “gains power by the use powerful people make of it” (Weiss and Wodak, 2003: p.14). Powerful discourse is able to reshape the way a public defines a phenomenon, or the way they comprehend society through their beliefs, understandings, and opinions.