BOURDIEU AND GRAMSCI

Abstract

Pierre Bourdieu's theory of symbolic power has its origins in Antonio Gramsci. Both distanced themselves from orthodox Marxism. This article analyzes the Gramsci-Bourdieu connection around an expanded conception of the state. Bourdieu distances himself from Marxism by emphasizing the role of symbolic systems in the reproduction of social inequality. The Marxist emphasis on economic and class structures underestimates the importance of the symbolic dimension of power relations, and Bourdieu considers that in advanced societies, the primary mode of domination has shifted from overt coercion and the threat of physical violence to forms of symbolic manipulation. For Bourdieu, just as there is economic power, there is symbolic power.

Keywords: Hegemony, civil society, symbolic violence, habitus, symbolic power.