Power: what it is, theories, forms, authors, examples

The word power comes from latin potere, and its meaning brings us to the possession of ability or faculty to do something, as well as the possession of the command and the imposition of the will. THE sociology and the philosophy they discuss forms and theories about power, presenting different definitions over the centuries, according to the historical, political and social scenario of each period.

Read too: Totalitarianism: political regime that centralizes power figures

What is power?

In addition to having the authority, the command or simply the faculty of being capable of something, by physical or intellectual attributes, power is a force that permeates social relations since the beginning of human society. Power expresses itself through the clash of forces, but before that, it exists in itself as a force.

In microphysics of power, Foucault discusses the insertion of power in social institutions that want to control our bodies and behaviors. [1]

Faced with so many historical epochs that faced power in different ways,

several thinkers have developed different theories on the subject.. In this sense, perhaps the most complex theory that explains the contemporary period in a more detailed way is that of the French philosopher Michel Foucault, who understood that society is a complex of micro-relationships of disciplinary powers that aim to control people's bodies through the imposition of discipline.

Power theories

for the german sociologist Max Weber, power is the imposition of the will of a person or institution on individuals. This imposition is direct and deliberate and may or may not be accepted as a force of order. When people under someone's power accept the order, there is a transition of forces from the realm of power for the domain of domination, that is, the person who accepts the imposition of order submits to the authority of the other.

For the German philosopher, sociologist and economist Karl Marx, O power resides in the one who possesses the material means of capital production, which, in his time, were the factories and the lands. Through possession of the means of production, the owner submits his employees to his power. This, for Marx, causes social injustices, as the boss appropriates the work of his employee to obtain all the capital for himself.

Marx's proposal would be a revolt of the proletariat Against the bourgeoisie that it would take the means of production, distributing them to the workers and dissolving power among the population. However, there would be a need, for Marx, to create a kind of central power, the socialist state, who would take care of the property management.

For the French sociologist PierreBourdieu, power is understood in a social and collective sphere permeated by what he called the habitus. O habitus it is a set of values, norms, rules, tastes and cultural elements, such as religion, art, etc., that shape society and have the ability to bring and separate people. O habitus is completely unconscious, and its assimilation takes place through representations cultural to which we are subjected and the interiorization and imitation of these representations.

For Bourdieu, there is a power behind it all that makes people unconsciously seek to consume, like, adapt to certain elements to the detriment of others. The collective and unconscious command of these preferences gives certain actors economic or social power, in the sense that they create symbolic representations to be followed by other people.

MichelFoucault, french philosopher contemporary, made a thorough analysis of power in his work and came to the conclusion that power in contemporary times is not centralized, but dissolved in society. According to Foucault, there was a milestone in society that was the Industrial Revolution and the advent of capitalism liberal. Before these events, the ancient monarchies concentrated power in the hands of the king, which leads us to the idea of ​​a power that Foucault called macrophysical, one who is big and concentrated.

After the birth of the capitalism As a liberal industrialist, power began to dissolve into several different institutions of control. If before the control was instituted by the king, now it is done by the school, industry, barracks, prisons, hospitals and hospices.

All these institutions are confinement houses that mold the behavior of individuals (school and barracks), control us to be productive (factory), and correct those who do not meet social norms (jail and hospice) or whose bodies cannot withstand high production due to illness (hospitals).

forms of power

for the contemporary Italian philosopher NorbertBobbio, there are forms of power that classify the different ways to obtain it and exercise it in society. Starting from a reading of the political scene with Marxist inspirations, Bobbio identified three forms of power. Are they:

• Economic power: exercised by those who have possession of material goods and money. It is this form of power that causes people who are not in possession of resources to maintain certain behavior and submit to certain types of work. It is economic power that keeps the capitalist system functioning and that makes the workers subject to the power of the boss.
• Ideological power: exercised by those who have the ability to create ideas and ideologies and, with that, influence others. This type of power keeps an entire social structure in full operation, as it makes the subjects accept the power invested against them.
• Political power: official power that controls the state and holds the right to use physical force against members of a political community. Political power is legitimate as long as it aims to achieve the ends of a political community.

Typically, these three forms of power are exercised by the same groups within a society, as the state bureaucratic power tends to be controlled by those who have the economic power and the ideological power.

Read more: Anarchism - political theory aimed at the suppression of the State and institutions of power

social power

Today we call social power the ability of certain individuals to influence society, through speech, through their charisma or through the possession of means that allow the wide dissemination of their ideas. In this sense, those who manage to mobilize society or social groups around a common project have social power, influencing the formation of ideas and opinions.

Examples of power

At theoryFoucaultian, we can take as an example of power the disciplinary control exercised by microphysical social relations within confinement institutions. Examples of these relationships are: the relationship between student and teacher, employer and employee, patient and doctor or prisoner and jailer.

For Bobbio, economic power can be exemplified by the relationship between the boss and the employee; ideological power, through the relationship between the media (media) and people; and political power, through the relationship between political actors (governors) and citizens.

Image credit

[1]Editorial Record Group (Reproduction)

by Francisco Porfirio
Sociology Professor