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"Power serves to create power. Powerlessness serves to re-enforce powerlessness"(Gaventa,1980:256). Such is the essence of the on going relationship between the Powerful and the Powerless of the Appalachian Valley where acquiescence of the repressed has become not only common practice but a way of life and a means of survival. In his novel Power and Powerlessness, John Gaventa examines the oppressive and desperate situation of the Appalachian coal miners under the autocratic power of absentee land-owners, local elites, and corrupt union leaders. His analyses is based on Lukes three-dimensional understanding of power from his book Power: A Radical View. Gaventa applies the three notions of power to the politics of inequalities in the Appalachian Valley and, while demonstrating the inadequacies of the first or 'pluralist' approach and the merits of the second and particularly the third dimensions, asserts that the interrelationship and reinforcing affect of all three dimensions !is necessary for an in depth understanding of the "total impact of power upon the actions [or inactions] and conceptions of the powerless"(Gaventa:256) This essay will examine Luke's three power dimensions and their applicability to Gaventa's account of t
The creation of a set of controls in the form of political and ideological constructs resulted "in a shaping and influencing away from (the mountaineer's) 'stock' to participation in the ways and values of the new order"(Gaventa,1980:68). Conformity to the extent where contradictions of conscience go unnoticed because workers are no longer certain of their orientation occurred repeatedly and was the main reason challenge was rare. As a further adaptive response "the sense of powerlessness may also lead to a greater susceptibility to the internalisation of the values, beliefs or rules of the game of the powerful"(Gaventa, 1980:17). What may have once been strong convictions to a people are systematically lost and the beliefs of the ruling class are accepted in silence, not only because of a sense of powerlessness but because they have been indoctrinated to condone whatever the powerful put forward. After the acquisition of land and the initial economic boom, conditions worsened for the mountain people and a set of stable controls was necessary in order to maintain the system the Association had created and in turn, their position of dominance. As Middlesborough developed into a Company Town, the absentee and unitary control exercised by the British owners grew to ensure the dependence of all upon it. They owned not only most of the land but controlled the town's key factors of production, requiring even independent companies to function under their terms. As was mentioned earlier, the people who had once been independent in earning a living for themselves were now required to work as miners and labourers under the autocracy of a huge enterprise. Even small entrepreneurs now found themselves answering to the higher power of the Association. By the late nineteenth century, the economic potential emanating from the vast wealth of natural coal resources of the Appalachian Mountains were well recognized and Middlesborough, a once quiet rural community, had experienced an economic boom and grown into the industrial mining centre labelled the 'Magic City of the South'. The entire enterprise had been established under the singular leadership of the American Association Ltd., of London. Millions of dollars were pumped into the area but because of the ownership monopoly and primarily foreign investors, the mountain people themselves reaped little or none of the benefits. more power in social life because direct conflict It must be noted, however, that the workers of Middlesborough were not completely inact -------------------------------------------------------------- an experimental test of their capacities to affect outcome. Limiting yourself to this analyses would dismiss many factors that led to the quiescence of the mountain people, and would prevent a deeper understanding of this case. Using Luke's second dimension of power, the non-challenge to the land-takeover would not be viewed as apathy on the part of the ordinary people but as the result of unobservable forces and covert conflict working to prevent their expression of scepticism and dispute. Who prevails in decision-making seems the best erests not consciously articulated may fit into the power relationship. Their agrarian based mainstay was threatened and destroyed as the 'Anglo-American enterprise' expropriated acres and acres of mineral-rich land. "The acquisition of land is the first step in the process of economic development and the establishment of power." (Gaventa,1980:53). It was also the first step in the subordination of the mountaineers. Losing their land meant a change in lifestyle from a largely independent group of farmers to a group of coal miners dependent upon the Company for a salary.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 4681
Approximate Pages = 19 (250 words per page double spaced)
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