According to WB Gallie, power is an essentially contested concept. Although, various scholars have given varied concepts of ‘power’, no one view can summarise the whole idea completely.
One of the most important concepts in this regard was given by Steven Lukes. He identified three dimensions of power in his book, “Power- A radical view”. He stressed on the fact that power is exercised in three ways- decision making power, non-decision making power and ideological power.
Similarly, other scholars have also given their views on ‘power’. Karl Marx calls “economy” as the primary base for power. For him, power was not just any religious or philosophical concept; rather it was a ‘resource’. And like any other resource, power is always in a “limited supply”. So it is found to be concentrated among certain actors- like the state and the ruling class.
Hobbes believed “law” to be the main base of power in his book “leviathan”. According to him, without a ‘lawful common power’, each person will be his own lawmaker and judge. This will create chaos. So he believed that the only lawful form of government will be “absolute monarchy”.
Similarly, for feminist scholars- power is largely interpreted as masculinised and state-centric, which is understood as domination of power over others. For them, the prime goal is to redistribute ‘power as a resource’ so that women also have power equal to men.
The varied concept and understanding of various scholars regarding ‘power’ shows that there is no fixed definition of power. Even in the contemporary world, there is seen a co-existence of numerous forms of power. Almost every view still exists in some form or other that strengthens the “contesting nature of power”.
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