Phenomena of Power: Authority, Domination, and Violence

by Heinrich Popitz, Andreas Göttlich (Introduction), Jochen Dreher (Introduction), Gianfranco Poggi (Translator)

Overview

In Phenomena of Power, one of the leading figures of postwar German sociology reflects on the nature, and many forms of, power. For Heinrich Popitz, power is rooted in the human condition and is therefore part of all social relations. Drawing on philosophical anthropology, he identifies the elementary forms of power to provide detailed insight into how individuals gain and perpetuate control over others. Instead of striving for a power-free society, Popitz argues, humanity should try to impose limits on power where possible and establish counterpower where necessary.

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. Philosophically trained, historically informed, and endowed with keen observation, Popitz uses examples ranging from the way passengers on a ship organize deck chairs to how prisoners of war share property to illustrate his theory. Long influential in German sociology, Phenomena of Power offers a challenging reworking of one of the essential concepts of the social sciences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231175944
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	04/25/2017
Series:	European Perspectives: A Series in Social Thought and Cultural Criticism
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.90(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Heinrich Popitz (1925–2002) was professor of sociology and founding director of the Institute for Sociology at the University of Freiburg. In 1971-72, he was Theodor Heuss Professor at the New School for Social Research.

Gianfranco Poggi is professor of sociology at the University of Trento and emeritus professor of sociology at the University of Virginia and the European University Institute.

Table 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

What People are Saying About This

Hans Joas

Finally, the phenomenology of power, developed by one of the most creative German social theorists of the postwar era, reaches the English-speaking world. Written in the style of Georg Simmel, it offers a goldmine of insights for contemporary discussions.

Karin Knorr Cetina

Popitz offers a uniquely systematic treatment of power in which earlier concepts from Aristotle to Weber and Foucault are integrated. He also extends previous accounts through new concepts and distinctions, ranging from standard setting power to data power, and by a captivating analysis of how power emerges from universal human concerns with the future and is linked to our capacities to change our environment and our world. A must read for all students and analysts of power.

Andreas Wimmer

Popitz's anatomy of power as an integral part of the human condition is perhaps the most important theoretical statement after Weber.

Editorial Reviews

Phenomena of Power is an extraordinary piece of social and political theorising in the grand synoptic manner of Max Weber. Beautifully written, consummately translated, it deserves and rewards multiple readings. It is a profound and illuminating meditation on the sources, forms, institutional logics, and human consequences of power. It disaggregates that umbrella term into its many modalities, discloses its logic of development from one form to another, and reveals its ubiquitous and unavoidable significance. It contributes mightily to our understanding of politics, sociology, anthropology and psychology. It is a tour de force.

Martin Krygier

Long counted among the classics of German postwar sociology, Heinrich Popitz's Phenomena of Power is an elegant and unique anthropological study of power. This excellent translation will add an independent perspective to the Anglophone world's discourse on power and will also open up numerous new points for analysis and comparison.

Ulrich Bröckling

In times of globalization, localization, and rapid technicization, the appearance of power becomes increasingly complicated. Its inquiry calls for a comprehensive theoretical viewpoint, like the one Heinrich Popitz develops in Phenomena of Power. He conceives of power as one of essential phenomena of human sociation, distinguishes four fundamental and anthropological forms of power, and articulates them in detail. Readers of this volume will acquire an appropriate viewpoint for inquiring into power.

Hisashi Nasu

Beautifully translated...with a wide-ranging and informative introduction.

Theory, Culture & Society - Austin Harrington

Long counted among the classics of German postwar sociology, Heinrich Popitz's Phenomena of Power is an elegant and unique anthropological study of power. This excellent translation will add an independent perspective to the Anglophone world's discourse on power and will also open up numerous new points for analysis and comparison.

Ulrich Bröckling

Popitz offers a uniquely systematic treatment of power in which earlier concepts from Aristotle to Weber and Foucault are integrated. He also extends previous accounts through new concepts and distinctions, ranging from standard setting power to data power, and by a captivating analysis of how power emerges from universal human concerns with the future and is linked to our capacities to change our environment and our world. A must read for all students and analysts of power.

Karin Knorr Cetina

Popitz's anatomy of power as an integral part of the human condition is perhaps the most important theoretical statement after Weber.

Andreas Wimmer

Finally, the phenomenology of power, developed by one of the most creative German social theorists of the postwar era, reaches the English-speaking world. Written in the style of Georg Simmel, it offers a goldmine of insights for contemporary discussions.

Hans Joas