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Can Bourdieu’s Critical Theory Liberate us from the Symbolic Violence?

Sogang University

Pierre Bourdieu argued that sociologists must go beyond the description of how social agents’ self-understanding of their institution and society is displayed in their interaction, and should offer a critique of current practice so that the social agents can liberate themselves from the grip of the legitimated symbolic domination. In this article, the author hopes to show that Bourdieu’s attempt to establish the epistemologically privileged status of his critique fails on two counts. First, Bourdieu’s reliance on psychoanalysis to prove the epistemologically privileged status of his analysis does not provide us with independent evidence that shows why the lay social agents must ascribe an epistemic authority to him. Second, Bourdieu’s notion of illusio deprives him of the epistemic authority required for the liberation of social agents from the symbolic violence.

Key Words: symbolic violence • illusio • psychoanalysis • demystification

Cultural Studies <=> Critical Methodologies, Vol. 4, No. 3, 362-376 (2004)
DOI: 10.1177/1532708603254896


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