Revisiting the analysis of the use of systematic terror from the theoretical perspective of social dominance: Concept, limits and theoretical proposition

Social dominance theory conceives systematic terror as a mechanism of institutional discrimination consisting of the use, by dominants, of violence and threat of violence disproportionately directed against subordinates to maintain the stability of the hierarchical social systems. This conception has the disadvantage that it only provides information about the use of systematic terror by dominants, to the almost total exclusion of subordinates’ experience. However, if oppression is an objective situation, perceptible by oppressors’ actions, it is also a subjective reality experienced by the oppressed and likely to impact their reactions to oppression; hence the interest in documenting this experience and analyzing its socio-psychological implications. In this vein, this article discusses the contribution of this experience, called felt systematic terror, to the processes of production and maintenance of the hierarchical social systems, through an integrative model whose implications suggest new perspectives for future research within social dominance theoretical framework.