Phenomena of Power - Authority, Domination, and Violence

In Phenomena of Power, the foundational theorist Heinrich Popitz treats power as an essential concept of the social sciences. Instead of striving for a power-free society, he argues, mankind should try to delimit power where possible and establish counter-power where necessary. Phenomena of Power delves into the socio-historical manifestations of power and breaks through to its general structures. Philosophically trained, historically informed, and endowed with the power of observation, Popitz uses everyday examples, such as how the passengers on a ship may organize their deckchairs, to illustrate his theory of power. He clearly articulates how the mechanisms of power taking and power stabilization work and how to track them in the social world.

List of contents

Editors' Introduction
Translator's Note
Acknowledgments
1. The Concept of Power
Part I: Forms of Enforcement
2. Violence
3. Threatening and Being Threatened
4. The Authority Bond
5. Needs for Authority: The Change in Social Subjectivity
6. Technical Action
Part II: Forms of Stabilization
7. Processes of Power Formation
8. Power and Domination: Stages of the Institutionalization of Power
Notes
Index

About the author

Jochen Dreher (Dr. rer. soc.) lehrt Soziologie an den Universitäten von Konstanz und St. Gallen. Er ist seit Herbst 2005 Geschäftsführer des Sozialwissenschaftlichen Archivs in Konstanz. Seine Forschungsschwerpunkte sind Wissens-, Kultur- und Organisationssoziologie sowie Phänomenologie und Qualitative Sozialforschung.

Summary

Phenomena of Power delves into the sociohistorical manifestations of power and breaks through to its general structures. Popitz distinguishes the forms of the enforcement of power as well as of its stabilization and institutionalization, clearly articulating how the mechanisms of power work and how to track them in the social world.

Report

"Finally, the phenomenology of power, developed by one of the most creative German social theorists of the post-war era, reaches the English-speaking world. Written in the style of Georg Simmel, it offers a goldmine of insights for contemporary discussions." Hans Joas, Humboldt University, Berlin, and University of Chicago

Product details

• Authors: Heinrich Popitz, Heinrich Tolkien Popitz, Heinrich/ Dreher Popitz, Popitz Heinrich, John Ronald Reuel Tolkien
• Assisted by: Dreher Jochen (Introduction), Andreas Göttlich (Introduction), Gianfranco Poggi (Translation), Poggi Gianfranco (Translation)
• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 30.04.2017
• EAN: 9780231175944
• ISBN: 978-0-231-17594-4
• No. of pages: 240
• Series: European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism; European Perspectives: A Serie; European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism; European Perspectives (COUP)
• Subjects: Fiction > Gift books, albums, perpetual calendars, postcard booklets; Non-fiction book > Philosophy, religion > Miscellaneous; Social sciences, law, business > Sociology; NON-CLASSIFIABLE, Stationery and miscellaneous items, Miscellaneous items