Bourdieu and the bomb: Power, language and the doxic battle over the value of nuclear weapons

Abstract

Building on Bourdieu’s social theory, this article shows how powerful agents are able to challenge deeply engrained assumptions about the value of nuclear weapons. To illustrate the value of a Bourdieu-inspired analysis in the field of nuclear weapons, we apply his thinking tools of field, symbolic capital and doxa to the recent plea for nuclear disarmament by the US elder statesmen Shultz, Perry, Kissinger and Nunn. We analyse how the four revitalized the topic of nuclear disarmament, moving it from the fringes of peace research and grass-roots advocacy to the mainstream of academic research and politics. We argue that the historical context, the high symbolic capital of Shultz and his colleagues, and an appealing narrative that draws on commonplace understandings made their plea resonate with security elites.