Using the ideas of Paul Ricoeur and Clifford Geertz, this article develops the notion of education as a "text" and analyzes the "hidden curriculum" of that text as it is read by all members of the society. The hypothesis is proposed that education becomes a text about society's myths and sacred beliefs. (TE)

The theory of symbolic violence, a structuralist theory of socialization and reproduction of social inequality, is analyzed and criticized as insinuating a radical stance while hiding its objectivist nature and defeatist assumptions. The central concepts of power, power relations, habitus, and the term "arbitrary" are discussed. (MJL)