Summary
Summary Political Sociology 324 Section 1
- Course
- Sociology 324
- Institution
- Stellenbosch University (SUN)
A full summary of the class notes, lectures and prescribed readings and articles for the module.
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Political Sociologyo Coercive power
Power is enabling or disabling
o A person always has some form of power
324 All forms of power are embodied
o Gender
o Class
o Race
Section 1
o Culture
Lecture 1: Introduction o Socio-economic standing
o Age
Political Sociology o Nationality
The study of power
o Focus on the distribution of power Sources of Power
Sociological Imagination Military
Questions: State
o Is power a large scale or small phenomena Economic
Happening on micro, meso, and macro o Marx, Smith
levels Technological
Power as the freedom to choose how to act o E.g. drones
o Power influences/ imposes on this freedom
Legislative
o E.g. The state has the power to define and influence o Contracts
our freedom o Legal
Narratives of power play a role
o Laws
o How power is described
Social Norms
o How we refer to and understand power
Forms of Authority
Social pressures also influence our freedom Media (social)
o Act as a form of power Mass action and social movements
State as a source of power Institutions
o State has power over legal system (also a source of
power) Power that I have over others:
, Voting
Peers
Social media
Family
Subordinates
Power over me:
State
Banks and financial institutions
Employers
Economy
Legal system
University
Parents/family
Media
Leaders
Institutions
Religion
, Lecture 3: 19th March Social basiss power
Distribution of Power within Society o Collective resources that individuals/groups
mobilize to promote change
Who takes action?
Reading Who is mobilized?
Mobilization:
Kourvetaris o “process of forming crowds, groups, associations,
and organisations for the pursuit of collective goals”
Oberschall (1973:102)
Defining Power
Its is not enough to possess resources of power, you need
There are difficulties present in defining power to be able to use them effectively
Power to control and capacity to influence others whether o Positive or negative
they want to comply or not o Intentional or unintentional
Who has a surplus or deficit of power? o Consciously or unconsciously
All groups in society have power o Small or large groups
o To what extent can you mobilise this to bring E.g. political democracy: voters = important source of power
around social and political change
Most societies have a power structure/ hierarchy
o State has surplus of power Tangible resources: those that can be quantified, measure,
o Minority groups have deficit of power observed and categorized and typically has a monetary
E.g. unemployed, impoverished, women, value
etc o Tradeable power
Economics, class, gender, ethnicity, race, age, religion are all o Money
factors that result in power dynamics (less or more) o Property
o Titles such as Professor have hierarchical power o Information
o Access is a form of power o People (mass)
Access to decision-making processes o Knowledge
o Social status
Intangible resources: those that can’t be observed, tested
or measured in terms of financial value
o A person’s will/ influence/persuasive power
Social basics of power
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