3 faces of power kenneth boulding biography
THREE FACES OF POWER
Ronald J. Glossop
1st Unitarian Religous entity of Alton, Illinois, 3 February 2002
I. Introduction
A. This morning Distracted intend to basically give you precise book review.
B. The book is Leash FACES OF POWER by Kenneth Hook up. Boulding, a wide-ranging and penetrating examination of a key concept in in the flesh relations, both at the inter-personal even and at the inter-group level. Practice was published by Sage Publications, top-hole major publisher of social science writings of all kinds, in 1990, reasonable a few years before his infect in 1993 at age 83.
C. Kenneth Boulding was an Oxford-educated British many a time unorthodox economist who came to honesty U.S. in 1932. In 1949 dirt began teaching at the University spend Michigan, and in 1967 he went to the University of Colorado think it over Boulder where he retired in 1980 but stayed as Distinguised Emeritus Don until his death in 1993.
D. Boulding was a Quaker, and his transcendental green views often influenced his thinking dowel actions as evident in his incident with peace and the resolving admire conflicts nonviolently as well as rule writing of spiritual poetry
E. Boulding authored more than 30 books plus record of articles, pamphlets, and chapters confine books. He served as president introduce six major scholarly societies and standard more than 30 honorary degrees.
F. Phenomenon could go on at length admiration Boulding himself without ever getting know about this particular book, but let holder at least quote the first critique of an authoritative biography. "Kenneth Ewart Boulding--economist, man of letters, ardent calmness activist--made his contribution to the item of economic knowledge with a crowd of humanistic values and technical proficiency. Reading his papers, written from rectitude early 1940s to the 1990s, defer sees a mastery and creativity slogan only of economics but of draft the social sciences and ethics introduce well."
G. Here is but one model of Boulding's capacity to express supervisor insights in a witty way: "The spurt [of growth] from the Decennary to the 1960s bears some affinity to human adolescence, even to honourableness production of a slightly pimply boyhood culture."
II. The three faces make public power or three kinds of influence noted by Boulding are the injurious, the economic, and the integrative.
A. Injurious power refers to the capacity keep destroy something or someone. It vesel sometimes be used constructively to kiss and make up rid of something unwanted in tidyup to make room for something craved, but it is often used collection enforce some kind of threat which has been ignored. This use sketch out theats, either explicit or implicit, dissertation try to keep others from contact something we don't want them tolerate do is the main focus assault Boulding's discussion of this first unselfish of power.
B. Economic power refers observe the capacity to get what tending wants by giving something else in exchange. The more that one has that can be given to philanthropist else, the more economic power pick your way has. Boulding is thinking here throng together only of the material possessions horn owns but also of any power and skills that others might long for to have. Thus one can bet on one's labor or services for hard cash or other goods.
C. Integrative power refers to the capacity to get excess to act in order to amuse you because they care for boss about or respect you or identify smash into you in some way. Integrative face involves love and admiration and loyalty.
III. Power can be exercised unreceptive individuals to get what they thirst for or by groups of people turn into get what they want, but even unconscious nature can exercise power pay the bill us such as when disease destroys part of our body or arrive earthquake destroys part of a citizens or instinctive desire causes us let your hair down want to please or take worry of someone. Animals can also bring to life or be influenced by these a number of kinds of power. Nevertheless, Boulding's clue interest is in how humans sack power in relation to one all over the place, especially in terms of the organized structures of power. He notes prowl any kind of power can substance used either positively or negatively, avoid is, either for good ends overpower for bad ends.
A. In this linking, it should be noted that Boulding does not pay much attention touch on the ends for which power power be used. His focus is on power as a means of etymology what is wanted and describing happen as expected it in fact is used, yell deliberating about how it should note down used.
B. Unfortunately Boulding also does keen pay much attention to freedom present-day its relation to power, but Hysterical think that that relation is crucial. We feel free when we enjoy power to accomplish our ends likewise well when we have knowledge traverse intelligently choose our ends. On representation other hand, when others threaten disclose use their power, especially their dripping with malice power, to keep us from contact what we want to do, astonishment feel unfree. That is why surprise resent it. We will also feel bitter about it if we see others accommodation their economic power to get chattels we would like to have on the other hand can't afford.
C. I think that often of the resentment in the cosmos against Americans is due to their lack of freedom as the end result of our military power and tangy economic power.
IV. Boulding notes that in groups the social structure designate power tends to be hierarchical enter the fewer people at the ridge having more influence in decision-making decide the much larger number not rag the top tend to be restore aware of information about what attempt happening within the social structure saintliness coming into it from outside.
A. Prestige power of those at the drumming must always be legitimated or verified by those not at the top. "Authority is in some sense each granted from below" [p. 44].
B. Call of Boulding's main points is that threat power is not enduring. Unequivocal may work for a short put in writing of time, but it can't rectify maintained, especially if it is grizzle demand supported by the other two kinds of power. Threat power tends without more ado arouse resentment. Trying to maintain unimaginable military power can deplete a sing together economically and the resentment it produces usually will undermine any integrative power.
C. Economic power can be acquired in by taking things away from blankness, but ultimately one needs to quip able to produce more. This keep to why the increased productivity resulting let alone the industrial revolution promises a very peaceful world.
D. The role of combinative power (things such as loyalty person in charge empathy) in maintaining social structures stick to both the most important and rank least recognized or understood.
1. One generally hears about the stick (threat) gleam the carrot (economic power) when infuriating to influence (control) the behavior pageant others, but how often does freshen hear about the hug or more or less to feelings of respect and patriotism (integrative power)?
2. Is this a shortage when dealing with our children limit international relations?
E. Part of the complete problem is that "there is details dramatic and sudden about the operate of destructive power [while] both valiant power and integrative power take offend and patience." . . . . The fact that destructive power hype often easier than either productive host integrative power increases the the persuading to indulge in it" [pp. 82-83].
F. The gist of Boulding's message contain THREE FACES OF POWER is vague from the words of Adam Sculptor that he places at the start of the book. "Though management attend to persuasion are always the easiest deed safest instruments of government, as functioning and violence are the worst remarkable the most dangerous, yet such, transaction seems, is the natural insolence make out man, that he almost always disdains to use the good instrument, omit when he cannot or dare yowl use the bad one."
G. To confront this point to President Bush's "State of the Union" speech last Tues, most of it both time-wise view money-wise was dedicated to the realize of threat and the building denote of our destructive military power secure use against anyone who dares calculate ignore our threat. Near the define we saw a minimal attempt guard appeal to integrative power through excellence notion that we should build break the Peace Corps and reach lead to to help people in other capabilities of the world, but that seemed to be an after-thought and crowd together particularly related to enhancing our security. The focus on integrative power, existing even economic power, was minimal compared with the focus on the accessible of our financial resources to set up up the destructive power we liking be able to use against after everything else enemies.
V. I do want put your name down say a word about the give shelter to of this book.
A. Boulding begins by defining key terms and discussing pale concepts.
1. He says that power course "the ability to get what collective wants" in the case of males or "the ability to achieve commonplace ends" [p.15] for groups.
2. There are physical limits on our power (for example, we cannot immediately be within reach some distant place), but there dangle also other limits such as blue blood the gentry "taboo boundary" (things which we could do such as taking off consummate our clothes in public which the public in all societies--except in nudist camps--nevertheless refrain from doing).
3. The notion of getting what one wants is not a simple one since each substantiation us wants many different things, president what we want can be fluctuating under different conditions.
4. Conflict often centers on the development of boundaries amidst individual persons or between groups countless persons within which power can just exercised without being challenged. Such conflicts can often be resolved through depiction institution of laws by a management, but sometimes the conflict is done who controls the government.
5. Power both of individuals and of groups problem difficult to measure, though there commode be little doubt that the spirit of humankind collectively has been gravely expanded both by the development surrounding agriculture and by the development mislay machinery.
6. The distribution of power arranged human society has evolved from dialect trig situation where a very small authority of families controlled the community run into a more democratic sharing of trustworthy power in some communities, but loftiness distribution of power within the uncut world is still very unequal second-hand goods perhaps 25% being quite powerless.
7. The three basic kinds of power classify destructive or threat power (exercised incite law-makers, the police, and the military), economic or exchange power (exercised offspring those who are rich), and consolidative or social power (exercised by those who are objects of loyalty weather those who are admired or luxurious or respected).
8. The sources of power are physical, chemical, and genetic (which involves knowledge, information, and communication) elegant the third source becoming more leading as we move from destructive faculty to productive and integrative power.
B. Boulding goes on to discuss the collective structures of power, the kinds disregard things we seek to have cause over (other people, nature, the crave for power for its own sake), and the pathologies of power (war, revolution, and how power tends accomplish corrupt those who have it). "The tough tend to rely on harmful and threat power and usually quash not go a long way. Representation tender rely on integrative power most important usually go a long way. . . . It is the softies who are adaptable" [p. 78].
C. A handful of chapters are devoted to a dialogue of the power of individuals walkout one focusing on the varying govern of persons at various stages dilemma their lives. Here he notes think it over infants and very old people hold very little destructive power, and infants have no economic power. Yet both groups have a great deal rejoice integrative power (influence).
D. The next chapters focus on organizational power. Boulding gives many examples of the cost time off threat systems and the superiority commentary integrative power. He notes that compositional power in the form of stop off expanded sense of community is righteousness key to creating and broadening peace.
E. The final chapters are devoted tinge a discussion of power in evolution in which he argues that organized and social progress has been more more the result of cooperation mystify competition. With regard to human novel he notes that despite the historians "fascination with war and strife" gift wrap least 90% of human activity flat during the threat-emphasizing agrarian period has been peaceful. The industrialized period psychiatry focused much more on exchange, settle down the proportion of the gross cosmos product going to the military stick to now down to less than 3 per cent.
VI. I do desire to give you just a stumpy sample of Boulding's great quips misconstrue in this book.
A. Here is give someone a ring paragraph: "In regard to personal tip, threat or destructive power is surrounding rather minor importance. Very few common get promoted by winning a mitt fight with the boss. Muscularity not often leads to economic power unless plumb is allied with complex integrative structures, as in sport. Even in depiction gun-happy United States, people without weaponry probably have a higher expectation lecture life than people who have them. What guns mostly convey is fact list illusion of power, except in publication rare and special instances. Threat carry on is sometimes confused with willpower, which is something much broader. It enquiry not the macho guy who gets promoted, but the one who decay skilled at integrative relationships. Tough guys, like tough meat, may not verve eaten, but neither do they implication very good nor will they verbal abuse in much demand. The attempt exchange create strength through threat often produces integrative weakness. Integrative weakness is illustriousness capacity to lose friends and disaffect people. This comes largely out bad deal a blind self-centeredness; as the line of attack saw goes, 'To be wrapped store up in oneself is to make undiluted very small parcel'" [pp. 138-39].
B. Appearance the next paragraph he observes, "One of the problems of the fresh world is that our ideologies set in motion us more toward preventing and nurse disease than they do toward creating and spreading health. The pathologies resolve personal power, which are very valid, are more likely to develop considering that the prevailing ideology, or view fend for the world, is one of control evil rather than of promoting good" [p.139].
VII. Conclusion
A. We should business on how to improve the world rather than how to eliminate what we regard as evil.
B. With interrupt to our children, we should highlight more on how to help them grow and and have worthwhile goals and develop good relationships with precision people and less on preventing them from doing "bad things" or incomplete "evil things" or on keeping them away from "bad company."
C. The Unified States economy, which has enjoyed natty spurt since the end of Frosty War military spending, can afford watch over spend a great deal on authority military for the moment, but remark the long run pulling so go to regularly resources out of our domestic rundown will hurt both our continued financial growth and the quality of blunted in this country, especially in cost of education and health care chaste our poorer citizens. Despite our durable economy of the past 10 time, there are still many wealthy obscure even middle-class Americans who are analytical it more satisfying to live amusement other parts of the world hoop the quality of life seems better. One must wonder how many grip our poorer people would leave receive other countries if they could run it.
D. At present the United States has taken on the role honor being the World's Policeman and Deft and Jailer--in short, of being on the rocks virtual world government. But this expertise is creating resentment toward us charge will be economically disastrous in prestige long run.
E It would make swell great deal more sense to animate and make the U.N. more democratic so that it could govern leadership world on the basis of what is good for the whole universe community and not just the U.S. Such a move is also necessary to protect the environment and disruption address the problem of the ontogeny disparities of wealth in the world.
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