Under repression, adolescent freedom reduces to insolence.
Evidence
That in repressive society freedom comes to the same thing as insolence is demonstrated by the nonchalant gestures of teenagers, who ‘don’t care a cent’ for the world as long as they do not sell it their labour. To show that they are dependent on no-one and so owe no-one respect, they put their hands in their trouser pockets. But their elbows, stuck outwards, are ready to barge anyone who gets in their way. — Theodor W. Adorno, Minima Moralia, 126
Categorization
Category: Causal Relationships
- XREF: Connects to Bourdieu’s habitus and to the sociology of gesture; also the historical image of teddy boys.
Broader Connections
- Oppressors invoke their own freedom to justify oppressing others
#contradicts(0.78) — Simone de Beauvoir, The Ethics of Ambiguity, 91 - Restricting freedom provokes the rebellion it aims to prevent
#expands(0.72)