BBI3303 Language and Power

What is power? 1.Power as dominance Power as dominance entails domination, coercion and control of subordinate groups. It comes from privileged access to social resources such as education, knowledge and wealth. Access to these resources provides authority, status and influence.

2. Power as consensual/jointly produced Power as having a two-way distinction a. power through dominance b. power by consent People believe that dominance has to be justified in some way.

In relation to the two understandings of power, research on power falls into two traditions; 1.Mainstream tradition of research on power Focuses on the view of power as dominance. Focuses on how institutions secure compliance of others through control, even when there is resistance. Institutions are like the state, church, court, and businesses. Origins are in Weber’s study (1941, 1978)

2. Second-stream tradition of research on power Focuses on the persuasive influence of power. Origins from Gramsci (1971) The notion of hegemony arises. Hegemony involves the mechanisms through which dominant groups succeed in persuading subordinate groups to accept the former’s moral, political and cultural values. Power is not through control but through routine.

Language and discourse constructs hegemonic attitudes, opinions and beliefs in a way that makes these beliefs appear natural and common sense. Hegemony is constructed through the cultural formation of individuals by the institutions of society such as the education system, family, court, media etc.

An important factor in this process is consent of subordinate groups. Subordinate groups consent to the existing social order because it is effectively presented by the state and its institutions as being beneficial and commonsensical. Hegemony operates largely through language. Dominant groups generate language that present ideas as natural or common sense.

3. Situated close to the second-stream of research on power is Foucault’s (1977, 1980) model for the analysis of power in discourse. Power is seen as not repressive but productive. Power is action or relation between people which is negotiated and contested in interaction and is never fixed and stable. Power is not a given entity which is maintained through ideological operations of society.

Ideology Ideology refers to the ways in which a person’s beliefs, opinions and value-systems intersect with the broader social and political structures of the society in which they live. Language is influenced by ideology, shaped and determined by political beliefs and socio-cultural practices. Linguistic analysis can help understand how ideology is embedded in language and help us become aware of how the reflexes of dominant or mainstream ideologies are sustained through textual practices.