Little room for capacitation : rethinking Bourdieu on pedagogy as symbolic violence

Megan Watkins

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

11 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

In Bourdieu's early work on education, he declares that 'All pedagogic action (PA) is objectively symbolic violence insofar as it is the imposition of a cultural arbitrary by an arbitrary power'. This article rethinks Bourdieu's proposition. It questions whether all PA is symbolic violence and the very notion of a cultural arbitrary upon which this view is based. For Bourdieu, culture is framed narrowly in terms of class, and pedagogy a mechanism by which it is reproduced. As such, it functions as a form of violence having much in common with Foucault's notion of discipline. Unlike Foucault, however, who also acknowledges the enabling potential of power as a technology of the self, Bourdieu has no such equivalent. His concept of PA leaves little room for capacitation wherein, rather than a cultural arbitrary, certain skills can be seen to have an inherent use value equipping individuals with capacities that are a means for social transformation.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)47-60
Number of pages14
JournalBritish Journal of Sociology of Education
Volume39
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2018

Keywords

  • Bourdieu_Pierre_1930, 2002
  • pedagogy

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Little room for capacitation : rethinking Bourdieu on pedagogy as symbolic violence'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this