Words as Resistance
Words matter to me. I also find it deeply meaningful and outrageously ironic that a person such as me – an artist with dyslexia – would ultimately be drawn to words. But alas, this is my truth. Words are what drew me toward deeper wisdom and thus a PhD – and sometimes, though I suppose not often enough, to a copy editor.
When I pivoted to wordsmithPHD, I decided that words as essays were critical to include. Given the perilous moment we are in, thoughtfully analyzed critical truths matter greatly. Truthful words visually portrayed, written as essays, or screamed in outright resistance are essential to preserving our democracy. Trump, and his band of arrogant swindlers, are depending on citizens to set aside their instinctual understanding of what it means to be an American. If we wish to preserve our democracy, this cannot stand. Words as resistance are imperative.
With resistance on my mind, I turned to the work of Pierre Bourdieu (1930-2002), a sociologist and one of France’s most renowned public intellectuals. It seems fitting that as I seek an intellectual companion for this essay, I chose a French intellectual – as France is the nation that supported us as we fought for independence nearly 250 years ago. Today, as then, we must engage resistance as we fight to maintain our freedoms and uphold the constitution of this great nation.
Beyond his brilliance, I think I was drawn to Bourdieu because he was born of humble beginnings, as was I. His parents were farmers with little education, as were my grandparents. His academic background also had humble beginnings, as did mine. He began his career in Algeria, at a time when Algerians were seeking independence from France. In this time of upheaval, Bourdieu did not shy away from those he did not understand. Rather, he used the tumultuous moment to open his eyes wider, to empathize, to learn. Employing ethnographic fieldwork, which is a research method I often use, he sought to deeply observe and thus, to more fully understand indigenous Algerians. From this field work came his most influential writing – “Outline of a Theory of Practice.”*
Allow me to use myself as the subject to explain the foundations of Bourdieu’s work and ultimately how it relates to today’s perilous times. Looking into a mirror held up by his words, I came to understand my world and the worlds of my research subjects, quite differently and with greater empathy. I grew up within a working class “habitus” (a strata of society to which we belong). Later I crossed into an educated and somewhat upwardly mobile “habitus,” which now also shapes my understanding of the world. I spent my early years within a privileged “field” (a person’s larger social sphere), that of White America. I have since pushed beyond that “field” and now reside in a multicultural “field” of friends, neighbors and colleagues. Today, my social “capital” (social and cultural networks) is quite different, as is my economic “capital” (wealth). Though I dare say, the “capital” of a woman faculty in a humanities college does not compare with that of men faculty in a business college. However, I will not digress further, at least for now. Still, the wisdom I gained from my years as a professor allowed me to amass an immense amount of “symbolic power” (the influence provided by this and countless published articles and books, lectures to thousands of students, and interviews by the national press). These privileges and their “symbolic power,” thus shape my “social reproductions” (the perceptions my work may have instilled in those who’ve read it, read about me in the news or experienced my lectures). Yet not all “social reproductions” involve only “symbolic” power. There-in lies the danger of tyranny.
On wordsmithPHD I seek to use my “symbolic power” to shape my audience’s perceptions and beliefs. I dare say, I do so without malicious intent. However, not all “symbolic power” is used benevolently. Consider how Trump and his loyal despots seek to shape the perceptions and beliefs of American citizens using reconstructed “social reproductions” with tropes that belie American history. Further, he and his cronies’ work is often an example of “symbolic power” that swiftly turns to actualized power wielded with unconstitutional, malicious intent.
In the end, I hold up Bourdieu’s three key concepts to a mirror. If only Trump and his cronies could see themselves in this mirror. First, “doxa” (certain values and beliefs within a society that are fundamental and immutable). Consider a person’s willingness to live out their oath to the constitution as demonstrating “doxa.” And, while certain values and beliefs espoused by Trump begin to appear natural, they rarely are. If one believes those false truths to be immutable and fundamental, they have been “doxed.” (Yes, Bourdieu is at the foundation of this word.) Second, “symbolic violence” (power structures or actions made to appear natural with inevitable outcomes). This sense of inevitability allows for both symbolic and real violence, to be structurally perpetrated against groups of people who are systematically othered or framed as less than human. “Symbolic violence” allows the powerful to control the “habitus,” “fields,” and of course “capital.” The latter being Trump’s ultimate greedy goal. Bourdieu’s third and final concept speaks of “misrecognition” (citizens failing to recognize the social and political forces that are reshaping their lives). Unfortunately, “misrecognition” is rampant in America today.
Trump, and his band of arrogant swindlers, supported by a shamefully silent Congress, are depending on citizens “misrecognition” of what it means to be an American. They are also depending on the Supreme Court’s “misrecognition” of the United States Constitution. Trump is further depending on citizens to avert their eyes from the values and beliefs that are fundamental and immutable to being American or “doxa.” He is depending on Americans to acquis to “symbolic violence” and thus real violence.
Trump’s success in attaining authoritarian power, is dependent upon our acquiescence.
Resistance matters.
Words matter.
* Bourdieu, Pierre (1977) Outline of a Theory of Practice, Cambridge University Press