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Abstract
The central question for Karl Marx concerning the specific role of symbolic domination in capitalism challenges us down to the present day. We continue to improperly perceive the symbolic and immaterial structure subjacent to capitalism that is responsible for its peculiar "symbolic violence." This article analyzes two interrelated issues: first, the racism implicated by concepts that articulate central and peripheral capitalism; and secondly, its principal consequence, which is the absence of broad and encompassing concepts in modern social theory. This eliminates a chance to articulate universal contexts--at least as universal as capitalism in its global expansion. The reach of contemporary critical theory is therefore limited in terms of central questions. Among the concepts that are abandoned by the fragmentation and contextualization is that of social class and that of the symbolic violence produced by structural changes that encompass capitalism as a whole. The following article draws on empirical studies concerning under class and the "new" middle class conducted in Brazil to illustrate its thesis.[PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]