De-Facing Power

A sophisticated new view of power as a network of social boundaries.

Clarissa Rile Hayward (Author)

9780521785648, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 14 September 2000

228 pages, 10 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.3 cm, 0.34 kg

"Hayward provides an important contribution to the problem of how to study the power of norms and institutional structures." American Political Science Review

In this major contribution to the power debate, Clarissa Rile Hayward challenges the prevailing view which treats power as something powerful people have and use. Rather than seeing it as having a 'face', she considers power as a complex network of social boundaries - norms, identities, institutions - which define both the field of action and the individual's freedom within it, for the 'powerful' and 'powerless' alike. Hayward suggests that the critical analysis of power relations should focus on the ways these relationships affect people's capacities to help shape the institutions and practices which govern their lives. Using a detailed comparative analysis of the relationships within two ethnically diverse educational settings - one in a low-income, predominantly African-American, urban school, the other in an affluent, predominantly white, suburban school - this book develops a compelling account of the concept of power in terms of networks of practices and relations.

1. Introduction
2. De-facing power
3. Power and pedagogy
4. 'The environment' and the North End community school
5. The 'world' of Fair View
6. Power and freedom.

Subject Areas: Political science & theory [JPA]