Symbolic Power without Symbolic Violence?

During recent decades social theory has struggled with the attempt to overcome both subjectivist and structuralist conceptions. In this effort, actors have been understood to construct social reality through their practices. Thus, social practices are socially constructed at the same time. Neither subjects nor objects existed prior to this work of construction; the nature of reality is therefore always symbolic, discursive. [FN1] These ideas have been accorded a warm reception in the Law and Society (L&S) Movement, and, in particular, in a current of thought within the movement that is interested in the study of legal consciousness in the everyday life of social actors, here termed "Legal Consciousness Studies" (LCS). In this Essay, I propose to analyze some aspects of the reception of that social theory in these sociolegal studies. The hypothesis that I want to demonstrate is that despite the importance of their contributions to understanding of law, there is a theoretical ambiguity in these studies. This follows from the fact that they adhere to different currents of social theory, which are irreconcilable to the extent that they are premised on different presuppositions about social relations. [FN2]