Sociological Perspectives on Power & Authority (AQA GCSE Sociology)

Key thinker: Weber (1947) on power & authority

• Sociologists study the way power relationships work in society

  • They focus on inequalities in power between different individuals and groups

• Max Weber (1974) was an influential early sociologist who studied power

  • He argued that an individual or group has power when they are able to get what they want despite opposition from others

  • In Weber's view, we exercise power when we influence someone, even against their will

Sources of power

• According to Weber, power is based on coercion or authority

  • Coercion entails the use of force or threats, such as torture or violence

    • People obey because they believe they have no other option and are compelled to do so against their will

    • For example, when an abuser demands to look through their partner's phone and threatens to use violence if they don't comply, they are exercising coercive power

  • Authority is exercised over people when they willingly agree to obey an individual or group because they see it as the right thing to do

    • Force is unnecessary because people consent to power being exercised over them

    • For example, a teacher exercises authority over students in the classroom when they willingly answer a question posed to them

Sources of authority

• According to Weber, those who are under authority recognise the legitimacy of power and agree to it being used against them

• Weber identified three types of authority:

  • Traditional authority

    • This type of authority is based on custom and tradition

    • For example, the authority of the monarchy is based on tradition

  • Rational legal authority

    • This type of authority is based on people accepting a set of laws or rules

    • People obey a group or an individual because they agree with the laws or rules that underpin their authority

    • Rational legal authority operates within a bureaucracy, i.e. an organisation with a hierarchy and a clear set of rules

    • For example, prison inmates accept the prison officers' authority to monitor them as they know they will be punished if they break prison rules

  • Charismatic authority

    • This type of authority is based on obeying a leader who has exceptional personal qualities that are inspiring

    • Political or religious leaders with charisma are regarded as extraordinary individuals with the power to cause social change

    • For example, Martin Luther King Jr (1929–1968) was a charismatic civil rights leader who led the American civil rights movement

• Weber recognised that an individual's authority is likely to be a mix of two types of authority

  • Teachers, for instance, have rational legal authority, but some may also inspire students and thus have charismatic authority

Marxist perspectives on power

• Marxist approaches see power as closely linked to social class relationships

• The bourgeoisie's power comes from their possession of the means of production, i.e. land, factories and machinery

• Marxist approaches argue that the bourgeoisie use their power to exploit the proletariat, i.e. the working class

• Because political power stems from economic power, the bourgeoisie also possess political power as a result of their economic dominance

Feminist perspectives on power

• Feminist approaches argue that Marxist and Weberian accounts of power do not pay enough attention to gender

  • Gender inequality is the most important source of division in society

• Many feminist approaches to the study of power and power relationships focus on patriarchy

• Feminists argue that society is controlled by men who have considerable power within politics and the workplace

• Men generally have a bigger share of wealth and social status

• Women are held back by a glass ceiling, which acts as an invisible barrier preventing women from reaching top positions and earnings due to oppression and exploitation in work, home and state

• Women are under-represented among holders of political power, decision-makers, and senior judges in Britain

Key thinker: Walby (1990) on patriarchy

• Feminist sociologist Walby (1990) focuses on gender inequalities and women's subordination in society

Method

• Walby reviewed existing research theories from sociology, economics, history and political science

• She also examined secondary sources such as historical data and feminist literature

Findings

• Walby defines patriarchy as a system of social structures and practices in which men dominate and exploit women

• She described six patriarchal structures that restrict women and help to maintain male domination of society:

Paid employment

• Whilst in theory the state supports equality between the sexes, women continue to be disadvantaged in the labour market

  • Women typically earn less than men and are excluded from better-paid work

  • Women tend to have the worst jobs in the labour market

  • Women's lesser participation in the labour force results from material constraints, e.g. their wages are so low that paid work is not worthwhile

  • A disparity exists between girls’ better educational performance and their lower status positions in the workplace

The household

• Husbands and partners exploit women by benefiting from their unpaid labour in the home

• Women work a triple shift (Duncombe and Marsden), where women who engage in paid work are also more likely to take the lead on domestic tasks and ‘emotional work’ within the family

Culture

• Whilst women have gained more freedom, they continue to be subject to social expectations, which apply different standards to the behaviour of men and women

  • For example, culture differentiates between masculinity and femininity

  • Femininity is defined in terms of being sexually attractive to men

Sexuality

• Whilst women have greater freedom to express their sexuality, they do so while subject to double standards

  • For instance, women who have multiple partners are usually criticised, but men who have multiple partners are frequently admired by other men

Male violence against women

• The use or threat of violence discourages women from challenging patriarchal authority

• Male violence is a form of power over women

• Except in extreme circumstances, the state declines to take action against it

The state

• State policies and actions relating to gender have changed since the 19th century

  • For example, it is now easier to divorce

• While the state is not as patriarchal as it used to be, it continues to do relatively little to protect women from patriarchal power in society

  • For example, women still generally receive lower wages than men, and equal opportunities laws, e.g., the Equalities Act 2010, are rarely enforced

Conclusion

• Walby argued that the nature of patriarchy in Western society has changed

  • The gender pay gap and qualifications gap have reduced

  • There has been a shift from private patriarchy to public patriarchy

Evaluation

• Liberal feminists argue that legal barriers have been removed and more women are reaching top positions than ever before, thus breaking the glass ceiling

  • Reasons for this include:

    • improved educational performance of girls, which has allowed them to reach higher positions in the workplace

    • increased opportunities for women in the workplace, allowing them to focus on their careers

• Critics argue that there have been attempts to recruit more women into politics, e.g., all women shortlists (AWS) were first introduced by the Labour Party in 1997 to address the gender imbalance in parliament

  • There are more female MPs in the House of Commons than there ever has been and this was achieved without AWS in the 2024 General Election

• Catherine Hakim suggests that the gender pay gap exists as women make a lifestyle choice to leave the labour force to have children