Power and Powerlessness: Quiescence and Rebellion in an Appalachian Valley

By John Gaventa

Book Overview

Using Clear Fork Valley in central Appalachia as an empirical example, Gaventa attempts to discern the "hidden faces of power" - those forces which shape actions and consciousness in ways not readily apparent in formal American political processes. He seeks to clarify and expand upon past theories (by such writers as Bachrach and Lukes) on the nature and maintenance of power.

The region studied here is characterized by stark incongruity - the co-existence of massive natural wealth (coal and land) with pervasive human poverty attended by high unemployment, limited education, malnutrition, and the prevalent hazards of mining coal: black lung, dismemberment, death, and ecological ruin. This has been the region's status quo under the decades of domination by a British company and its absentee owners. Despite these departure conditions and frequently violent union struggles, culminating in the 1969 murder of UMW reformist Jock Yablonski, acquiescence to this status quo has been maintained. Gaventa searches out the answers to how and why wealth and poverty continue to coexist and the powerless continue to accede to the powerful. His astute analysis poses broader questions about the politics of poverty, working-class consciousness, and corporate power in America.

• 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.