La domination sociale dans le contexte contemporain

The concept of domination has been at work in sociology for over a century but the current socio-economic conditions are no longer those that surrounded its emergence. In what follows, we will propose an overview of the various interpretations that the concept of domination has encountered ; we will then question the possibility of talking about dominated classes today in light of the macro-social and structural evolution of the French society. We will show that the vectors of domination have evolved. One of the most powerful today should be sought less in terms of psychological processes, brought to light by attribution theories in the 1970’s, than in terms of assimilation and adherence to dominant norms.