The new olympians: cultural power under the optics of Edgar Morin

Abstract

This article aims to reflect about the contributions of the work of the French sociologist Edgar Morin about mass culture for the comprehension of the concept of “cultural power”. Cultural power is the interlacement of the concept of “symbolic power”, developed by the also French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, with the concept of “soft power”, of the American political scientist Joseph Nye. Artists and producers who have cultural power are able to influence, seduce and mobilize multitudes around the world with their art, causes, appearances and, of course, products of the cultural industry. How the ideas of Edgar Morin, from mass culture to the concept of “olympians”, contribute to elucidate the ways to acquire cultural power? From the depth hermeneutics the conclusion is that, by education, it’s possible to understand the mechanisms of consolidation of cultural power, which is a fundamental step to reverse the logic that gives power to very few artists while makes many other invisible.