Exploring Cultural Domination in Empires: Based on Bourdieu and Gramsci

• In Event: 50460 - Section on Comparative-Historical Sociology Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (60 minute): Table 8: Colonial and Postcolonial Governance

Abstract

Both Pierre Bourdieu and Antonio Gramsci address cultural domination, though they frame their theories using distinct concepts: “symbolic violence” and “hegemony”. However, their approaches to cultural domination follow fundamentally different logics, highlighting key distinctions in their views on social change. Comparing Bourdieu’s and Gramsci’s theories on cultural domination allows us to reflect on current understandings of power and forces from a non-material perspective.
In the empirical realm, neither Bourdieu nor Gramsci explicitly applies their analyses of cultural domination to cases of empire. Nonetheless, empirical research on imperial domination frequently draws on the concepts and theories of both Bourdieu and Gramsci, revisiting their ideas. As we explore these empire studies, the shared concerns and inquiries of the two theorists, along with their distinct responses, become more evident. The inherent boundaries and divergent emphases in Bourdieu’s and Gramsci’s theories are illuminated through empirical analysis, which this article aims to highlight.
In this paper, I review Bourdieu’s theories on symbolic violence and Gramsci’s theories on hegemony respectively. For Bourdieu, I focus primarily on his explanations of the state and its formation, emphasizing the accumulation and maintenance of symbolic capital as a central aspect. In contrast, for Gramsci, I discuss the concept of hegemony and the approaches he proposes for breaking through it, highlighting the role of civil society as the arena where subaltern groups and organic intellectuals play crucial roles.
By comparing their theories, I argue that they differ in several key areas: their perspectives on agency, the degree to which they emphasize class, and whether they view capitalism as a factor influencing cultural domination. These distinctions become particularly evident in empirical studies of empires. Later scholars uncover various dimensions of imperial practices aimed at cultural domination, and their selection principles often align, even implicitly, with the frameworks established by Bourdieu and Gramsci.

Author

• Xianni Zhang, University of Michigan