Power dynamics in intergroup relations☆
Section snippets
Definition of power
Following Power Basis Theory (PBT), we define constructive power as the ability to meet one’s or close others’ needs, and destructive power as the ability to create need deficits or thwart needs-meeting [10]. PBT holds that (1) there are particular, universal survival needs: access to material resources, legitimate acceptance in a community, knowledge, freedom from violence, receiving care from others, and transcendence, (2) the potential to meet needs jointly depends on human capacities and
Theories assuming dynamic group interactions
Important intergroup theories are dynamic in involving change, multiple parties, protracted relationships, alternative goals or agendas, although these dynamic aspects are not equally elaborated across theories. Social Identity Theory (SIT) addresses dynamics in how groups and coalitions form, and why people become active for ‘social change’ [15,17•,18,19•,20]. Image Theory (IT) predicts how intergroup relations can change as groups imagine other group’s goals [21, see also Ref. 18]. Social
Multi-player games
New methods can handle the complexity of examining multiple parties interacting in multiple ways over time. The In Game is a multi-person game, in which rules, game tokens, and events represent distinct types of power (legitimacy, material resources, obligations, violence) while providing players with plenty of choice [43•,45]. In different game cultures, the simple motivation to ‘survive’ (i.e. stay in the game) produces different behaviors, uses of power, and distributions of power among
Conclusion
Considering intergroup power dynamically goes beyond cognition, dyadic influence, and identity. It highlights agency, societies, empowerment, and material reality [16]. Examining intergroup relations emphasizes the importance of studying non-dominant and/or non-majority groups [4,31]. Though studying protracted interactions among multiple parties is difficult, new tools and new theories of intergroup history, coupled with established methods, are poised to link intergroup power dynamics with
Conflict of interest statement
Nothing declared.
References and recommended reading
Papers of particular interest, published within the period of review, have been highlighted as:
• of special interest
•• of outstanding interest
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Resistance to collective victimization and oppression
2020, Current Opinion in PsychologyCitation Excerpt :Collective victimization, power, and resistance are closely linked (Figure 1). Victimization that occurs through violence involves ‘avoidable insults to basic human needs, and generally to life, lowering the real level of need satisfaction below what is potentially possible’ [7, p. 292], while power entails the ability to meet needs [8,9]. Thus, collective victimization is destructive power exercised over others—which, as Foucault and others have argued, always elicits resistance [3,8,10,11].
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This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.