Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Construction Of A Class With A Sense Of Entitlement: A Case Study On Political Rhetoric As Symbolic Violence In Denmark, Klarissa Lueg, Andreas Jakobsen

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

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.