The Cultural Meanings of Pain: Constructing Power, Identity and Social Perceptions

Abstract (English)

Pain is a condition that is culturally influenced. Its phenomenological experience can be shaped by factors such as gender, age, skin color, sexuality, health status, the activity performed in a specific context, and the people involved in the social scene.
For those who experience pain, it has the power to deconstruct their relationship with the world (Scarry 1990), absorbing all attention and nullifying other experiences, emotions, and conditions (Le Breton 2007). In chronic diseases, pain is often a mystery—lacking visible bodily signs and existing primarily in the words of patients. It appears unsuited for oral translation (DelVecchio Good et al. 1992), casting doubt on its very reality and highlighting power dynamics between patients and healthcare professionals.
Pain has often been analyzed in ways that underestimate the agency of sufferers, portraying them as passive victims with limited capacity to assign meaning to their pain experience. While pain is typically seen as an affliction to be fought in all circumstances in algophobic societies (Han 2021), ethnographic studies reveal that it can also be endowed with meaning in constructivist contexts—such as rites of passage or other culturally expected performances that shape gender, adulthood, or bravery, showing the engaging side of pain experiences (Manfredi, Nardini 2022).
When voluntary, pain can become a source of discrimination, as seen in extreme and violent sports (Ferrero Camoletto 2005), body modifications (Manfredi 2023), BDSM (Zanini 2022), and other non-mainstream practices, often leading to stigma for those who embrace it.
Methodologically, studying pain poses significant challenges for social researchers: beyond the difficulties of translating pain into words (Jackson 2003), its meanings are deeply embedded in a sense of belonging, shaping identity perception while also being entangled with taboos and feelings of shame.
Understanding pain beyond its biological dimension, this panel invites discussions on ethnographic research that explores the meanings of pain experiences and examines how they shape related cultural phenomena, such as agency, identity, emotional expectations, power dynamics, social capital, and experiences of discrimination or social isolation. This call is directed at scholars interested in discussing methodological choices, researcher positioning, pain discourses in both conventional and subversive activities, and contexts in which pain is either emphasized or minimized.