ScholarWorks > HHS > Social Work > JSSW > Vol. 43 > Iss. 2 (2016)
Keywords
Blame avoidance, Bourdieu, scapegoating, symbolic power, welfare
Abstract
Taking a Bourdieusian perspective, this paper illustrates how one politically staged TV broadcast on a receiver of benefit payment has triggered political scapegoating in Denmark. The case has challenged the prevailing welfare state discourse and fostered the construction of a low class with a “sense of entitlement” by the media.
We show that the media adopted the notion of a “sense of entitlement” originally used by politicians. Welfare state critical phrases and proverbs experienced a revival.
We claim that this one-sided rhetoric abstracts from political responsibility and that power, agenda-building and rhetoric act as symbolic violence.
Recommended Citation
Lueg, Klarissa and Jakobsen, Andreas
(2016)
"The Construction of a Class with a Sense of Entitlement: A Case Study on Political Rhetoric as Symbolic Violence in Denmark,"
The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare: Vol. 43:
Iss.
2, Article 6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.15453/0191-5096.3811
Available at:
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/jssw/vol43/iss2/6
Off-campus users:
You may need to log in to your campus proxy before being granted access to the full-text above.
Included in
Inequality and Stratification Commons, Other Sociology Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons