Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley

by John Gaventa

Book Overview

Winner of the W. D. Weatherford Award of the Appalachian Society, the Woodrow Wilson Foundation Award of the APSA, Lillian Smith Award of the Southern Regional Council, V.O. Key Award of the Southern PSA, and the Governor's Award from the Kentucky Historical Society

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0252009851
• ISBN13: 9780252009853
• Release Date: May 1982
• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Modern Gramsci

Gaventa's introduction of the "third level of power" can be read as a modern interpretation of Gramsci's idea of hegemony. What Gramsci called "leadership", "command", or "direction" at various times is described as "acquiescence" by Gaventa. Gramsci privileges those in power while Gaventa is more concerned with the victims of imbalanced relations of power. The tracing of the history of coal mining in the clear fork valley illustrates the value of his model for understanding the affects of power. The early years, and his inclusion of rhetoric, is particularly strong. His treatment of the more contemporary business practices leaves the reader sensing some selective interpreting of evidence but nonetheless does more good than harm. This is an incredibly useful paradigm if you plan on analyzing anything involving the effects of power. It's also a story you don't hear about; save the occasional news story lasting about as long as a scrolling marquee in our consciences.

Excellent book on the nature of power

This book has some weaknesses, but it still deserves five stars for the introduction of the concept of "the third dimension of power" in which the powerless are deterred from struggling for the power they don't have. The significant aspect of this concept is that this deterrence occurs in a way that is "underground", so to speak, so that the powerless don't even realize that they are being restrained by social forces. This is really a book for sociologists and social theorists. Read on that level, it offers a fascinating new understanding of the nature of power relations.