Politics, Power and Theory

I. Politics as a contested terrain.

       a) what is and is not political?

II. Politics is related to power.

       a) power is always present

       b) power is relational

III. Three images of power.

       a) coercive power

i)                Max Weber – 3 kinds of authority

·      Traditional

·      Charismatic

·      Legal-rational

b) power of economic necessity

·      Leverage of subsistence

c) disciplinary power (regulatory or positive power)

·      Michel Foucault on power

·      Power of the ‘norm’