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Phenomenology of Power: Reflections on Social Construction and Subjective Constitution

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Abstract

From the viewpoint of a phenomenology of power—the focus of this outline—it is insufficient to conceptualize power exclusively as a macro-sociological phenomenon since power is established on the interface of collectivity and individuality as well as of objectivity and subjectivity. Power is not only implemented in structural preconditions of societies; it is also implemented in the structures of the life-world of the individual actor. To understand power, it is necessary to analyze the social construction and the subjective constitution of power, combining a social science with a phenomenological perspective. Society is perceived as objective as well as subjective reality, which is why power has to be analyzed with respect to its objective construction as well as to its subjective constitution. From this perspective, the micro/macro distinction becomes obsolete and results to be not suitable for the considerations of a phenomenology of power.

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Dreher, J. (2023). Phenomenology of Power: Reflections on Social Construction and Subjective Constitution. In: Belvedere, C., Gros, A. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Macrophenomenology and Social Theory. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34712-2_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-34712-2_5

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-34711-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-34712-2

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