“Spiraling Downward on a Path to Anarchy”: Characterizing Threats to Privilege

Abstract

In the previous chapter, i demonstrated how conservative movements construct movement identities by taking identities in the broader culture and narrowing their definitions, thus constricting the population with legitimate access to particular privileges. But to what privileges are these movements making claim, if any? Blumer’s (1958) theory of group position provides us with four criteria to determine if these groups are attempting to maintain privilege. The first of these criteria is the group’s sense of proprietary right to particular privileges. The second is a belief that these privileges are under threat from some other group. Therefore, to determine if these movements are acting to preserve their group position, we can look for evidence of a sense of ownership or exclusivity with regard to privileges and claims that these privileges are being threatened. To examine privilege in more detail, I turn to Bourdieu’s (1990, 2001a) conceptualization of capital. He describes four types of capital: traditional monetary capital, cultural capital (advantages gained through socially acquired, culturally valued traits such as manners and education), social capital (advantages gained through social networks, such as networks of friends and business contacts), and symbolic capital (advantages that come from the prestige or recognition associated with things like titles, family name, affiliations with exclusive clubs, or even traits such as race and gender). Using these categories, we can determine not only if these groups are attempting to maintain privileges for themselves, but specifically the kinds of privilege to which they lay claim.¹