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Sociology of knowledge

Perception and symbolic violence

Traditionally, the study of the social perception of reality has been approached either from the standpoint of political demoscopy of how “public opinion” defines the most varied social problems, or from social psychology analyzing the mental processes which give rise to the perceived images of reality. But none of these perspectives takes into account how social relations of power affect social perception. The sociology of knowledge, with the centrality it gives to the relationship between social structure and points of view, can alleviate this explanatory inadequacy.

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Political field and mediatic field

The correspondences between political and mediatic field make the opinions expressed in the media into a reflection of the hegemonic political views. This is based on the exercise of a symbolic violence involving the imposition of some problems and censoring of others which usually would be those needing more discussion. Through this symbolic violence not only authoritative opinions are created, but also groups with voice which define how reality is seen.

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