Rethinking the four dimensions of power: domination and empowerment

TLDR

Power is traditionally viewed either as domination (power over) or empowerment (power to), and the four dimensions of power have been treated as forms of domination. This article argues that the four-dimensional power processes also constitute normatively desirable, emancipatory power. The study shows that structured power over can be positive‑sum, that exclusions in two‑dimensional power enable justice, and that domination’s effectiveness relies on emancipation.

Abstract

In the literature, there have been two essentially contrasting views of power: one of power as domination, largely characterized as power over, and the other of power as empowerment, frequently theorized as power to. To date, the four (Lukes and Foucault) dimensions of power have been considered forms of domination. In this article it is argued that the processes of four-dimensional power also constitute the process of normatively desirable power, as emancipation. Key is the realization that structured power over has the potential to be positive-sum, rather than zero-sum; furthermore, that the exclusions of two-dimensional power also constitute the conditions of possibility for justice. The fact that normatively desirable power and domination are constituted through the same processes is not chance: the effectiveness of power as domination is parasitic upon power as emancipation.