Organising populism: from symbolic power to symbolic violence

Kerr, Ron; Robinson, Sarah; Śliwa, Martyna

Abstract

This article contributes to developing a management and organisation studies perspective on political organising by focusing on: (a) populism; (b) the exercise of political power; and (c) the organisation of politics. We address two questions: in what ways have English populist politicians in the 20th and 21st centuries utilised language along with other aspects of campaign organising to build and enhance their symbolic power? And: how do populist political organisations convert symbolic power into symbolic violence? Drawing on a range of concepts from Pierre Bourdieu’s sociology, most specifically his work on symbolic power, symbolic violence, political ontology and the performativity of language, we conduct a comparative analysis of texts from four waves of right-wing English populism culminating in Brexit. We develop a three-step framework to explain the organisation of right-wing populism via what we term populist political methodology: (1) establishing the symbolic power of the leader and the message; (2) organising power and the division of labour of domination; and (3) reinforcing symbolic violence in targeted sections of society. Understanding how populist politics is organised can support us in resisting, challenging and disrupting right-wing populism, providing lessons for organisations campaigning against racism and xenophobia.

Citation

Kerr, R., Robinson, S., & Śliwa, M. (2022). Organising populism: from symbolic power to symbolic violence. Human Relations, https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267221129181

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Sep 19, 2022
• Online Publication Date: Oct 31, 2022
• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: Sep 13, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 13, 2022
• Journal: Human Relations
• Print ISSN: 0018-7267
• Electronic ISSN: 1741-282X
• Publisher: SAGE Publications
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/00187267221129181
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1192036