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Power In The Community Essay

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Power operates in many ways in communities in the past. I will be exploring ways that power is defined and used to generate change in communities, specifically through readings on authority and subjectivity. This reading set is particularly interesting due to the deep unexplored space between the binary of authority and subjectivity. Scott R Hudson explores this idea through Built space and bad subjects, Domination and resistance at Monte Alban, Oaxaca, Mexico. A key note here is in the mention of “bad subjects” in the title, Hudson challenges the static identity frequently pinned on commoners. Hudson argues that even the less powerful played active roles in their communities and were capable of generating change which in turned gave them …show more content…

Hutson goes on to make a claim that despite their use of the new system of powerful to their benefit, sometimes the commoners may actually further their own oppression in what Hutson describes as “subtle jujitsu” (Hutson 2002: 57). He explains this as a way that the oppressing system uses the subservient’s own resistance against themselves. Although this may lead to the outcome, I don’t think that correlation is causation in this case. Yes, the weak actors are subservient to the new oppressors but saying their adaptation to the new system was anticipated by the system doesn’t seem credible. I believe the most important takeaway here is the dynamic nature of the subservient class and their self-awareness within new rules of power. Under Hutson’s sub-title Domination: Anatomy Of A Straw Man? He discusses the use of monumental architecture and demonstration of power. Interestingly, he ties power directly to its visibility, implying that the size and range of the monuments, its visual reach, is pivotal to its perceived power. Hutson explicitly states that the monuments visibly ‘makes it ideal for propaganda and ideology’ (Hutson 60). In his counter argument to himself he states that the monuments represented only the power of the elites, because only the elites can afford to pay the price to the gods in recompense. Hutson takes on the logic of

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