Education and symbolic violence in contemporary Turkey. Issue 1 (2nd January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Ergin, Murat; Rankin, Bruce; Gökşen, Fatoş
• Is Part Of: British journal of sociology of education. Volume 40:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 128
• Page End: 142
• Publication Date: 2019-01-02
• Subjects: Bourdieu -- comparative and international education -- inequality/social exclusion in education -- culture -- boundaries -- morality -- ethnicity -- symbolic violence -- Turkey; Educational sociology -- Great Britain -- Periodicals; 306.43
• DOI: 10.1080/01425692.2018.1500274
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0142-5692

Abstract

Abstract: This article examines the perceptions of education in Turkey, which refer to a nebulous package of formal education and a cultured stance. Guided by the literature on symbolic violence, we argue that underprivileged groups misrecognize arbitrary hierarchies by considering them just and inevitable. Elite tastes have been internalized by other groups in a particular historical context of education and culture. We investigate the historical roots of this seemingly ahistorical constellation of power relations around education and then consider the implications for the neoliberal period. Then, we contextualize the responses to symbolic violence. Subordinate groups complicate the effects of symbolic violence by exhibiting diverse responses that range from outright submission to implicitly questioning cultural and moral boundaries, creating class and ethnic others in the process. This occurs by constructing cultural and moral boundaries, especially targeting the 'vulgar' culture of celebrities and Kurds.