Power and rational choice

ABSTRACT

Addressing why those subject to domination seem to acquiesce willingly, Dowding and I disagree. Dowding appeals to luck; I claim it is likely to be power. Dowding’s view, at its strongest, views power narrowly: having power is having the capacity intentionally and observably to mobilize resources to advance one’s interests. My three-dimensional view embraces the various means by which power relations are reproduced and which they in turn reproduce, sometimes through inaction, in unconsidered ways and across generations. Power is often hidden, unobserved, even inaccessible to agents and observers alike and can be at its most effective when least observable.

KEYWORDS:

• Luck
• domination
• intentionality
• acquiescence
• structural racism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Ty Elliott@drtyelliolt 09.06/20

2. Valerie A. Fitzhugh MD@DeFNA 07.06.20

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Steven Lukes

Steven Lukes teaches sociology at New York University. His interests span political theory, anthropology and philosophy of the social sciences. Author of Emile Durkheim: His Life and Work, Individualism, Power: A Radical View (third edition appearing April 2021) and a satirical novel, The Curious Enlightenment of Professor Caritat.