Topic 1 of power and politics: includes Weber and power, Functionalism and power, Marxism and power, Postmodernism and power, gender and power, sources of power

1. SCLY3 – Power and Politics
Defining power

2. Definitions of power
• Max Weber: power is the chance of men or a number of me to realise their
own will in a communal action even against the will of others who are
participating in the action
• Lukes: A has power over B when A affects B in a way contrary to B’s
interests
• Zero sum view of power: the exercise of power involves negative
consequences for some individuals and groups because it involves
repression, force and constraint
• All relationships involve a concept of power

3. Sources of power
• Force: physical violence or credible threat of, not just angry or harsh
words
• Rewards: payment for good behaviour, withholding benefits for bad
behaviour
• Legitimacy (authority): established moral right to rule, moral
obligation for followers to obey

4. Max Weber and power
• Power is getting what you want despite opposition from others. We
have power when we influence someone even against their will.
• Three types of power: coercion (power by force), authority (power by
obedience) and politics (differences in power, involving the exercise of
control, constraint and coercion in society)
• Three types of authority: charismatic (based on personal
characteristics), traditional (inherited authority), rational-legal (based
on rules and process)
• Definition of the state: a human community that successfully claims a
monopoly on the legitimate use of physical force within a limited
territory

5. Dimensions of power
• ‘First dimension of power’ only looked at
• Builds on by adding second dimension of power (Bachrach and
Baratz): decision making and order (having power over someone by
making a decision for them) and non decision making and power of
knowledge (having power over someone by not making a decision –
withholding information, deciding what needs to be known)
• Third dimension of power (Lukes): shaping desires and power to
influence behaviour (B’s thoughts and beliefs are being shaped
without B’s realisation) essentially a ‘false consciousness’

6. Functionalism and power
• Variable sum of power: power comes from society, power = communally owned,
made for circulation
• Power is infinite if it is functional, if it is dysfunctional it is taken away: ‘checks and
balances’
• Power is a positive resource characterized by consensus and legitimacy
• Parsons: power results from sharing resources in order to achieve collective social
and cultural goals
• Power needs direction and organisation in order to be effective done through
democratic elections so politicians can exercise power on their behalf
• Argues that if society is not happy with the use of power, they will simply not vote
this way
• Naïve; fails to acknowledge that power can be accumulated in the hands of
individuals with more interest in pursuing own needs

7. Marxism and power
• Fixed sum of power: power comes at the expense of others
• Power arises out of the social relations of production that characterize the
economic system of production found in capitalist societies; bourgeoisie (ruling
class) and proletariat (working class)
• Hegemony (the control of ideas) used to control the proletariat who have
potential to become disruptive
• Intellectual and moral ideas of the ruling class provide the dominant culture
outlook for the whole society (Bocock, 1986)
• Althusser (1971) achieve this cultural dominance through economic power to
define what counts as knowledge, ideas, art etc.
• False class consciousness; workers fail to realize true interests as exploited worker
• Gramsci (1971) power is potentially available to subordinate classes even with
hegemony, need to be sufficiently class conscious and politically organized
• Deterministic – all comes down to money
• Fails to acknowledge other sources of power – religion, military, the state

8. Poststructuralism and power
• Foucault (1980) suggests power is an inescapable part of everyday lives, power
plays a major role in the construction of identity
• Discourses; bodies of knowledge and language which dominate how society sees,
describes and thinks about we should live our lives in terms of family, sexuality,
health etc.
• A shift in the 18th century towards ‘disciplinary power’: the power to identify
what is deviant and what is normal. This kind of surveillance and judgement has
expanded into institutions on the 20th century such as education and the
workplace. Our identity is a result of these judgements or discourses
• ‘bio power’: describes concern with controlling the body and it’s perception.
Important in shaping sexual identity and attitudes towards sexualities. Imposes
heteronormality at the expensive of homosexuality in order to avoid judgement
and discrimination of those who identify as homosexual
• No explanation on how bio power or disciplinary power evolved or who exercises
this power
• Uses selective historical data rather than systematically gathered contemporary
data – not empirical

9. Gender and power
• Patriarchy: power men have over women as argued by feminists
• Millet (1970) argues that patriarchy resulted in male dominance and
female subordination, patriarchy is the most powerful ideology of our
culture
• Patriarchy is the result of a number of factors: biology, socialization (the
family), ideology, education, economic dependency (women denied entry
to top jobs by ‘glass ceiling’), religion and myth, psychology (women
develop inferiority complex), physical force
• Westwood (2002) development on postfeminism. Use of Foucault’s work
on discourse to show how women can take control of their lives and
identities
• Women can use their bodies, intuition and control of gestures to gain ower
and construct their identities
• Westwood exaggerates degree of power that women have in patriarchal
societies
• Dominant discourses reinforce female powerlessness