Violența simbolică: discurs și reprezentări sociale în campania pentru alegerile prezidențiale din 2014 (Symbolic violence: discourse and social representations during the 2014 prezidential campaign)

• Main Author: Mirabela AMARANDEI
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Editura Institutul European Iasi 2016-03-01
• Series: Polis: Revista de Stiinte Politice
• Subjects: symbolic violence; political power; elections; political discourse; social representation
• Online Access: http://revistapolis.ro/documente/revista/2016/Numarul_1(11)2016/articole/11.%20Mirabela%20AMARANDEI.pdf

Societies work on relations of power and domination, the political practices and even groups involved in politics are generating violence. Romanian public space was gradually taken over by symbolic violence, an act of power between the political elites and the dominated classes. The symbolic violence expresses its fullest potential during the election campaigns. The speech and the political events during the presidential election campaign in 2014 were predominantly violent. Key actors rather used manipulative techniques instead of generating a real debate of ideas. This article presents the findings of a semantic analysis of the main candidates’ political discourse, highlighting the manifestations of symbolic violence. The analysis will focus on the social representations used by the candidates during the public discourses, meant to seduce voters.