Power
Key Concepts
1. Edition November 2001
192 Pages, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
This far-reaching study gives a concise and coherent overview of
the debates surrounding the analysis of social power. The concept
of power is outlined, and its main dimensions are explored through
consideration of various facets - command, pressure,
constraint, discipline, protest, and interpersonal power. The book
examines both the theoretical debates that have arisen and the
kinds of empirical materials relevant to them.
Topics covered include the nature of the contemporary state,
global economic power, world systems, business governance,
professional power, social movements, and family dynamics.
Power will be an indispensable introduction for students
and researchers in sociology, politics, and the social sciences
generally.
1. Patterns of Power
Mainstream and Second Stream.
The Elementary Forms of Social Power.
Structures of Domination.
Counteraction.
Interpersonal Power.
2. Command and Sovereign Power
States and State Elites.
Integration and Recruitment.
Economic Governance..
3. Pressure and Policy Formation
Pressure and Polyarchy.
Decisions, Nondecisions, and Representaton.
Networks of Pressure and Policy.
4. Constraint and Hegemony
Financial Power and Economic Constraint.
Political Constraint and Hegemony.
State Power and Class Hegemony.
5. Discipline and Expertise
Government, Discourse, and Discipline.
Expertise and Professionalism.
6. Protest and Collective Mobilisation
Structures of Collective Protest.
Theories of Organised Protest.
The Development of Protest.
Globalisation and Protest.
7. Interpersonal Power
Power, Dependence, and Embodiment.
Patriarchy, Sexuality, and Power.
Interpersonal Power and Charismatic Authority.
8. Coda
Notes.
Bibliography.
Index.
'Using some simple but robust analytical distinctions, Professor Scott neatly and lucidly surveys alternative approaches to studying power and thereby illuminates various patterns of domination and of resistance in contemporary societies, focusing on the political and economic spheres.' Steven Lukes, London School of Economics