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Critiques of john stuart mill
John stuart mill essay
John stuart mill essay
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It is widely believed that power and violence form an interconnecting relationship in which one comes hand in hand with the other, for instance, to gain power, one needs to exercise violence, just as one needs violence in order to subdue it. As Mao once stated “power comes out of the barrel of a gun” (Arendt 1972, 113). This essay aims to question this common conception and its discourses. By firstly defining violence and power through the works of Marx, Weber and questioning their belief that violence and power are two of the same thing, and secondly by undergoing an analysis of their relationship through the works of Arendt, with the aim to show that violence and power are as Arendt believes, two very distinct concepts, and ones that lie at micro level, in the hands of the individual. The usefulness of this distinction and what it means to the study of the two concepts will also be discussed. For the purpose of this essay it must be stated that in relation to the discussions of violence that reference is made not to individual or interpersonal act of violence such as domestic violence. But rather violence which is structured into society, in a way in which to organise, make change and influence society through either legitimate or illegitimate force, such as state violence, military violence, riot and protest. In the time that Arendt was writing On Violence (1970) evidence of all these forms of violence were heavily taking place, in the forms of the fallout from the Vietnam war, Anti-Colonial struggles of the then third world, immensely violent student revolts within Europe and the United States, the invasion of Cambodia at the hands of the United States and most notably the Cold war which involved the nuclear stand-off betw... ... middle of paper ... ...as a Political Act? Noam Chomsky debates with Hannah Arendt. [Accessed 26/03/14] http://www.chomsky.info/debates/19671215.htm Fanon, F (1961) The Wretched of the Earth. Grove Press: New York Foucault, M (1998) “Power”. In Faubion, A. ed (2002) Essential Works of Foucault (1954-1984), Volume 3, Allen Lane Publishing: London Marx, K (1842) Proceedings of the Sixth Rhine Province Assembly. Third Article. “Debate on the Law on the Theft of Wood” [Accessed 23/03/14] http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1842/10/25.htm Marx, K (1848) The Communist Manifesto. Penguin Classics: London Weber, M (1919) Politics as vocation (Translated and edited), From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, pp. 77-128, Oxford University Press: New York Wright-Mills, C. (1956) Power, Politics and People: Selected essays of C Wright Mills. P 174. Oxford University Press: New York
Part 1. 2009. The 'Secondary' of the Print. The. Landstreet, Peter. A. The “Power and Power Relations Lecture”.
What is power? Power has no exact definition, as show by the movie “Chocolate y Fresa”. In the movie “Fresa y Chocolate” a homosexual artist named Diego tries to seduce David who is a straight young man who happens to be communist, David is only interested in Diego so that he can monitor Diego’s flamboyant lifestyle. But as they begin to discuss politics in communist Cuba they begin to develop a legitimate friendship. Power is show many different ways throughout the movie and according to Foucault, “power is everywhere”. In this essay I will explain how power is perceived in Cuba using the movie “Fresa y Chocolate” using evidence from the movie supported by Asli Daldal’s “Power in the Eyes of Foucault”and José Martí’s “Our America” in order
The role of violence in the fight against injustice is a tricky one. If an oppressor is willing to use violence to maintain control should not the oppressed use violence to achieve liberation? Franz Fanon would argue that the pent up anger and frustration must be released in violent action to tear down the oppressor’s regime. However, there is a better way and that is through non-violence and understanding that Martin Luther King, Jr. champions. Only through creating tension around injustice via non-violent direct action can the conversation begin around mutual understanding and justice. It is this justice achieved through non-violent means that will last as violent action is ultimately unjust in nature.
Arendt, Hannah. On Violence. San Diego, New York and London: Harcourt, Brace & Co. 1970
(Flynn 1996, 28) One important aspect of his analysis that distinguishes him from the predecessors is about power. According to Foucault, power is not one-centered, and one-sided which refers to a top to bottom imposition caused by political hierarchy. On the contrary, power is diffusive, which is assumed to be operate in micro-physics, should not be taken as a pejorative sense; contrarily it is a positive one as ‘every exercise of power is accompanied by or gives rise to resistance opens a space for possibility and freedom in any content’. (Flynn 1996, 35) Moreover, Foucault does not describe the power relation as one between the oppressor or the oppressed, rather he says that these power relations are interchangeable in different discourses. These power relations are infinite; therefore we cannot claim that there is an absolute oppressor or an absolute oppressed in these power relations.
In this essay it will be argued that nonviolence encourages violence by the state and corporations. The ideology of nonviolence creates
The arrogance of power is an insightful read for those who wish to put today 's global events in perspective. Although it was originally written in 1966 and may be considered dated, Fulbright’s eloquently written arguments are timeless and are important sources to help us gain a greater comprehension of what makes what Fulbright would consider a wise and strategic foreign policy. This book would be of great assistance in developing an objective view of American foreign policies as seen from abroad.
Jones, W. T. Masters of Political Thought. Ed. Edward, McChesner, and Sait. Vol. 2. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1947.
Pierre Bourdieu was a highly influential theorist. He provides a unique and fascinating definition or understanding of power as well as an explanation and analysis into how power works. This work serves to outline what is this specific concept of power means and contains, how it is created, what are the various forms it takes on and in general, how power works.
Sociologists examine power in the political, economic, and military institutions of America, as C. Wright Mills describes the shift in national power to advantage those who are part of these three institutions. The “power elite” (1) are those who are from similar social backgrounds and interests, therefore those in the top of hierarchy are interchangeably making decisions for other social institutions, in which they have no power to do so. For example, “the corporation executive whose company was one of the two or three leading war material producers is now the Secretary of Defense” (3), therefore the rise in power of the power elite have caused those who are not belonging to the power elite to lose all form of democratic rights. Many of the
...929 and Germany in 1933. In short, Arendt’s goal in writing this book was searching for the intellectual roots of the movement that had displaced her and so many others from her native Germany, and many more in other totalitarian regimes such as the one of Joseph Stalin in the Soviet Union. In the book, Arendt also deals with other, more broad themes that are present in her political writings throughout her life. Some of these themes are the inquiry into the conditions of the possibility for a humane and democratic public life, the historical, social and economic forces that had come to threaten it, and the conflictual relationship between private interests and the public good. “The Origins of Totalitarianism” was published in 1951 and is divided into three sections: “Antisemitism”, “Imperialism” and “Totalitarianism”; the last two parts were revised in the 1958
Michel Foucault argues a number of points in relation to power and offers definitions ...
Sarah Snyder Professor Feola Gov’t 416: Critical Theory Assignment #2 On Foucault, “Truth and Juridical Forms” Michel Foucault may be regarded as the most influential twentieth-century philosopher on the history of systems of thought. His theories focus on the relationship between power and knowledge, and how such may be used as a form of social control through institutions in society. In “Truth and Juridical Forms,” Foucault addresses the development of the nineteenth-century penal regime, which completely transformed the operation of the traditional penal justice system.
“Power is exercised only over free subjects, and only insofar as they are free. By this we mean individual or collective subjects who are faced with a field of possibilities in which several ways of behaving, several reactions and diverse compartments may be realized.” (Foucault)
Some theorists believe that ‘power is everywhere: not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere… power is not an institution, nor a structure, nor possession. It is the name we give to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. (Foucault, 1990: 93) This is because power is present in each individual and in every relationship. It is defined as the ability of a group to get another group to take some form of desired action, usually by consensual power and sometimes by force. (Holmes, Hughes &Julian, 2007) There have been a number of differing views on ‘power over’ the many years in which it has been studied. Theorist such as Anthony Gidden in his works on structuration theory attempts to integrate basic structural analyses and agency-centred traditions. According to this, people are free to act, but they must also use and replicate fundamental structures of power by and through their own actions. Power is wielded and maintained by how one ‘makes a difference’ and based on their decisions and actions, if one fails to exercise power, that is to ‘make a difference’ then power is lost. (Giddens: 1984: 14) However, more recent theorists have revisited older conceptions including the power one has over another and within the decision-making processes, and power, as the ability to set specific, wanted agendas. To put it simply, power is the ability to get others to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do. In the political arena, therefore, power is the ability to make or influence decisions that other people are bound by.