Public Sphere and Symbolic Power: 'Woman's Voice' as a Case of Cultural Citizenship

In: Cultural sociology, Band 5, Heft 2, S. 281-299

Abstract

This study discusses Habermas's notions of 'public sphere' and 'power', and suggests a novel approach by complementing Habermas's limited take on the 'political' with Bourdieu's notion of 'symbolic power'. To this end, 'cultural citizenship' is used as a helpful concept. The study draws on the analysis of a Turkish talk show format 'woman's voice' (WV) and its audience. It is proposed that viewing WV should be considered a political activity. An analysis of women's first-hand narrations of the domestic and symbolic violence in their lives reveals that many women continue to live under the patriarchal authority of the 'honour code' and the Turkish ruling elite have until recently neglected the needs of these women. WV provides a sphere where the needs and problems of these women are discussed for the first time in Turkish broadcasting history. It is shown with examples from field research that WV may potentially create subversive subject-positions among the disadvantaged groups of women, such as rural-urban migrants.