Abstract
In this chapter, we discuss theoretical developments in the sociological theory of power that emerged over the course of the twentieth and into the twenty-first century, in critical dialogue with sociologies that had synthesized the concerns of classical theory. After discussing the inheritances of classical theory in the twentieth century, we turn to the hermeneutic tradition in social theory, which dissented from a focus on power, and oriented itself toward authority instead. This, we propose, opens up a complex space of intellectual dialogue about power and its related terms (authority, violence) and the relationship of power to culture. In this space, we reconstruct two foundational thinkers of the twentieth (and, in one case, the twenty-first) century: Hannah Arendt and Judith Butler. Their work on power, focused on publicity and performance, articulated the performative dimension of power as a locus for sociological research.
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Notes
- 1.
For a review of classical theories of power including Hobbes, Parsons, and Mann, see Heiskala and Selg’s chapter in this volume.
- 2.
It is worth mentioning that our focus here is quite different from—and we believe complementary to—the discussion of power as regulation that animates the essay by Heiskala and Selg in this volume. Specifically, we are working on an understanding of power that is less focused on governance and the administrative state, via a discussion of theories that have brought forth different elements and dimensions of power.
- 3.
In the twentieth century, both Talcott Parsons and Michel Foucault sought to remove the requirement that power was zero sum. Parsons argued that power was similar to money in terms of the role it had in the social system (1963). Both power and money were a means through which societies functioned, and there were ways to enhance power, as one had ways to have money. Thus, power for Parsons was “a facilitative conception” which was considered in the framework of whether it would make an actor able to “achieve goals” and “to get things done”.
- 4.
Clegg notes that another way in which Lukes’ power carries similarities with the instrumental-relational tradition is in its understanding of power as, ultimately, the negation of sovereignty (Clegg 1987, p. 4).
- 5.
It is at this point that one might introduce a discussion of the work of Michel Foucault and several of his creative interpreters (including Judith Butler) to this history of power. However, because Foucault and governmentality are covered in Heiskala’s and Selg’s chapter in this volume, and because in many ways Foucault’s works sit in significant tension with the two thematics we introduce below (performativity and publicity), we have chosen not to take a Foucauldian detour herein. But see Reed and Weinman (2019), Hearn (2012), and Reed (2013) for discussions of Foucault.
- 6.
For further discussion on Arendt’s account of hierarchy and the distinction between ruling and acting, see Reed and Weinman, “Agency, power, modernity: A manifesto for social theory.” European Journal of Cultural and Political Sociology 6, no. 1 (2019, pp. 6–50).
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Reed, I.A., Moore, A.C., Toprak, V.B. (2021). Hermeneutics and Performance in Social Theories of Power. In: Abrutyn, S., Lizardo, O. (eds) Handbook of Classical Sociological Theory. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-78205-4_9
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