User:SteRos7/sandbox/Approaches to Knowledge/Seminar 2/Power

Male Power in Global Politics

We have witnessed in the 21st century a shifting relation in global politics due to the end of the Cold War, globalization and the increasing importance of non-state actors. This change has resulted in a surge of interconnectedness that can be seen through the dominant Euro and Schengen zones in the European Union. Indeed, to solve issues such as global warming, countries should work together instead of racing continuously for increased power and national gain. However, a recent thought has emerged stating that global interconnectedness is being restrained by the dominance of male led governments” and their focus on increasing national power and economy.

It is true that since the beginning of democratic governments and politics, more men have been in positions of power than women. For example, there are only three female justices in the United States Supreme Court , 408 seats out of 535 in the 2020 US congress are men; and there has only been one female Vice-President of the United States; under Joe Biden’s administration. Furthermore, the USA has seen in the last decades increasing republican ideas that are power oriented (first military power with an annual spending of approximatively 934 billion US Dollars ), competitive and logic based. Additionally, these values are stereotypically assimilated to “male politics” and male power, in opposition to female politics that use “compassion, intuition and feelings”. However, countries such as Germany that are central pillars in the European Union have national governments that are dominated by men as much as the US government (218 out of 491 seats of Germany’s 19th parliament were occupied by women ). We can therefore see that men’s politics is not a reason for a country to seek an increase of national power to the detriment of interconnectedness; Germany and the United States both have a majority of men in the government; nonetheless, their behaviour in the global scene is very different. While Germany prioritizes and benefits from the European Union the USA limits its dependance and its involvement in such supranational institutions.

It can therefore be seen that “male power” in politics does not necessarily mean a focus on a country’s national interests to the detriment of globalization and supranational organizations. While power is the ability to influence the behavior of others , the behavior of a country on the international scene is not determined by female or male power but rather by the political party of the leader.

Power in Physics Research and Education

Generational Issues

Planck's principle, as well as similar ideas presented by Dawin and Lavoisier, state that new idea's do not come to dominate by converting the proponants of the theories it is overturning but by their death and the next generation learning the ideas as given. This is likely to be a result of the power imbalance between the young and old in the universities as it takes a long time to climb to the top of these institutions as older people including scientists are generally less reseptive to new ideas. Research into age discrimination within academia also provides evidence for the presence of power dynamics in academic progression; implying that age and 'time surved' plays large part in decisions regarding promotion as well as competance and experience. This is an example of institutional power, younger people are simply not considered for higher positions in departements due to the observation that most of those with the skills for these positions are older. Overall the issue of idea's and individuals making their way up the academic ladder is a intersection of institutional power and individual's unconcious biases against idea's that they are unfamiliar with.

Gender Issues

In the united states only 20% of physics degrees and PHDs are earned by Women, and similar figures are reflected around the world. The lack of representation of multiple issues of power as well as sex differences in traits. The power issues between genders in physics departments mostly constist of preconceptional biases perpatrated by physics being primerily dominated by men and overrepresented in textbooks and other physics. This is one cause that contributes to most women not considering a career in physics from an early age.

Other power issues contributing to fewer women reaching higher positions in physics include difficulty fitting into a male dominated workplace and the decision making processes affecting career progression. Some factors that contribute to this are; men being likely more to overestimate their skills and women being more likely to underestimate, women being more to feel excluded from making connections across and up the hierachy and expectations of female steriotypes playing out in microagressions and the decision making process. These create an intersectional power imbalance between men and women in physics leading to an inneficient hierachy which is likely to hamper scientific progress by excluding potentially innovative women.

However, it is unlikely that power imbalances and descriminatory biases within physics account for all of the gender discrepancy in the discipline. One factor that explains part of the underrepresentation of women in physics is differences in the distribution of interests and priorities between men and women. Especially that women are, on average, more likely than men to prioritise 'balance and relationships' over material success and have a considerable statistical tendancy towards an interest in people (in the broadest sence refering to arts, humanities, care, etcetera) in contrast to the male tendancy towards interest in things (again in a very broad sense; STEM, data, construction, etcetera). Some more possible factors include; the female bias towards verbal intelligence as opposed to the male average tending towards spacial intelligence, and maternity (maternity especially in the high status and income positions that require a long and constant career path to reach).

Some argue that the difference is due to the width of the male general intelligence distribution increasing the male to female ratio at the extremes. However, measuring mean gender differences is extremely difficult due to the huge overlap in distrabution and the time and energy required on the part of the respondants to collect good psychometric data and many of the studies contradict oneanother.

Conclusion

Generational issues of power in physics and other sciences may well hamper scientific progress. Gender issues of power represent a portion of the reasons for the underepresentation of women in physics but it is unlikely that eliminating the power issues would result in equal representation due to the statistical differences in interests and traits.

It remains unclear in the literature how the power issues can be adressed as a whole. However, there is evidence that diversity cognative learning and reactions training had small but significant and lasting effects in combating unconcious biases. It is also suggested that increasing the representation of women in physics related content would increase the number of women enroling in physics courses. This is likely to increase the number progressing onto PHD level and academic posts, diluting the male dominated culture and increasing the likelyhood of innovation by a greater proportion of humanities best minds working in the field of study.

Power in Literary Theory

Introduction

Literary Theory “is a description of the underlying principles, one might say the tools, by which we attempt to understand literature.” It draws on theories such as Feminism, Ecocriticism and Marxism to reveal the significance of different social issues within a text, and how they affect both the author and the reader. Many issues in society are rooted in power imbalances, and as such, these theories often explore the power dynamics between an oppressor and the oppressed.

Feminist Theory

Feminist literary theory explores how the power of the patriarchy manifests in literature. It is concerned with “the ways in which literature (and other cultural productions) reinforce or undermine the economic, political, social, and psychological oppression of women”, a theme that is hugely prevalent in many texts. For example, in The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, sex is constantly associated with violation and even “public rape”, and although it is clear that Kundera attempts to criticise the patriarchal values of Communist Czechoslovakia, his writing is often interpreted as misogynistic rather than progressive, as it reinforces and emphasises the power relations between men and women in society. In Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’urbervilles, Tess is the epitome of a victim to the patriarchy. Throughout the novel, her “purity” is challenged by Victorian society’s patriarchal values and the church, even though her situation is (as it is with most human beings) too complex to be superficially labelled. Through indirect and direct coercion, she is steered through life with little control, a reflection of the oppression of women’s independence across history.

Eco-critical Theory

Eco-critical Theory is a relatively new form of literary criticism. It is “a broad way for literary and cultural scholars to investigate the global ecological crisis through the intersection of literature, culture, and the physical environment.” It is mostly concerned with power as language, as the way we construct nature leads to, and is a product of our relationship with the natural world. In Sylvia Plath’s anthology Ariel, she criticises the brutality of nature’s treatment and the power dynamics between humanity and nature. Although critics have argued that Plath’s “eye bounds the limits of the world, and all of nature exists only as a vehicle for her sensibility”, she nevertheless attempts to grant nature agency through her poetry, constructing it in such a way that we not only feel remorse for our actions but admiration at nature’s power. Other poets such as Robert Frost and Wordsworth are also recognised as eco-critical poets, granting nature a voice and beauty through the power of their language.

Marxist Theory

Marxist literary theory “is a loose term describing literary criticism based on socialist and dialectic theories. Marxist criticism views literary works as reflections of the social institutions from which they originate.” Literary texts are considered part of the superstructure, which emerges as a result of the economic base, and in turn supports its existing values (dominant hegemony). However, sometimes particularly progressive texts become part of the emergent hegemony, which puts forward ideas that may become part of the future dominant hegemony. As Marx sometimes referred to the superstructure a “consciousness”, we could interpret these texts as what Steven Lukes’ describes as the Third Dimension of Power: the power to shape perceptions, thoughts and preferences. For example, in Death of a Salesman, which criticises the destructive elements of the American Dream through the portrayal of Willy Loman’s tragic downfall, the audience is left to contemplate the roles they play within the structures of a capitalist society.

Conclusion

In conclusion, literary theory is a lens through which we can explore literature from many different angles, to better understand the power relations and issues in our society across history. It allows us to investigate existing but contingent societal structures, and gives us new insight into future possibilities, paving the way for a reimagined relationship with different elements of our world.

Power in Health

In the field of health, the power of practitioners and of medicine itself can be exercised in several ways.

The relationship between the doctor and the patient

The patient depends on the doctor's capacity to heal, as he is the one calling for help. The doctor due to his knowledge and academic title already exercise a form of power over his patient who is helpless regarding his health problems. This power will pass indirectly through the technical and medical language used by the doctor. It will put the patient more or less in difficulty to comprehend the doctor's statement . Moreover, it will also result in the prescription of drugs that will directly act on the patient's body. The powerless patient does not necessarily know what they are composed of. How the doctor is positioned, while treating the patient, can be illustrated through the idea of a protector or saviour, and creates a kind of paternalism. Some doctors may also place themselves at a higher level to obtain objectivity . The doctor’s knowledge builds power in contrast with others who have not pursued the same studies. However, some doctors wonder about this patient/practitioner relationship, sometimes wanting to leave the patient more free and active in the choice of their treatment . Others, on the other hand, believe that the active involvement of a patient would slow down the process of diagnosis. Absolute objectivity is not possible in medicine and cannot be, as every patient is different, but it also leads to many inequalities.

Health and Inequalities

Studies have shown strong inequalities between the treatment of women and men. Women’s pain, for example, is often underestimated. For example, endometriosis is a very disabling disease. It causes pain during menstruation, which sometimes leads to the infertility of the woman. This disease highlights the inequalities between sexes. It affects 1 out of 10 women, however, it has only recently been acknowledged by society. For a long time, the pain suffered by these women was categorized as “women disorders”. This has led to no further research on that matter. Furthermore, it did not allow women, that suffered from this condition, to be properly taken care of . Across the health system itself, gender inequalities are perceived. Women are underrepresented in health research and the treatments found may therefore be unsuitable for them. For example, they only represent 1/3 of the cardiovascular clinical-trial subjects. This lack of representation is very problematic because both sexes are distinct and can therefore react differently to certain treatments . For example, a study conducted on aspirin showed how male-bias in the sample of subjects can limit the research. A low dose of aspirin was found to reduce the risk of heart attacks. However, as this research was only done on male subject, the fact that aspirin could lead to major female gastrointestinal bleeding was forgotten .

This problem is even more accentuated when it comes to minorities or people of colour. A black woman is up to five times more likely to die from complications during pregnancy than a white woman.. Black patients in the US are also more likely to have less recent and cheaper treatments than white people . We could perhaps consider this is an example of power as indirect (institutionalised) coercion, as it is exercised through the mobilisation of bias, and limits the options of those it oppresses.

Conclusion

The population is a subject to the functioning of the health system and its vital decisions. The held power leads to strong inequalities in healthcare. However, health organizations and medical doctors play an important role at the international level. They aim to fight certain diseases in the most disadvantaged countries.

The Power of Education

Introduction

Nelson Mandela once said that ‘education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’. Indeed, education is a fundamental resource for individuals and societies. It is a basic human right and governments have the duty to ensure access to basic education to its population. But education is much more than just learning how to write, read and count. Education is about moral values and how to behave in society to be considered and have a voice to change things.

The lack of education across the world

The education of populations around the world has been at the center of many international concerns for the past 30 years. The lack of education systems in some countries have had different effects: poor health, shorter lifespan, unemployment, gender inequality, rise of violence or even children’s exploitation in different work fields. In conflict zone, according to UNICEF, 27 million children don’t have access to education and only 66% of countries have achieved the gender parity in primary education. Some countries have entered a vicious circle in which education has been put aside because of attacks, war and poverty. But without education, these countries won’t be able to rebuild their economy and their political system. Education is therefore a symptom and a cause of a country’s fragility.

The power of education

Education is essential both for individuals and countries. It develops human personality, increases open-mindedness and a quality education allows future generations to face big issues such as unemployment and global warming as Helle Thorning-Schmidt said at the 2017 Education World Forum. Education is essential to the success of the 17 sustainable development goals (2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development). Considering education as one of the key factors to reach these goals shows that education is indeed the most powerful weapon for changing the world. Education has the power to reduce poverty by increasing individual earnings. It helps reduce gender inequalities. In fact, women still need to prove that they have the same intellectual capacities than men and the first step to do so is by receiving the same education so that they can stand for themselves. The World Bank made the argument that the most effective intervention a country can make to increase its economic development is to invest in education. When governments invest huge amounts of money in this field, they take into consideration the future benefits it will generate for the country: the construction of a strong, educated and open-minded society. Its power allows countries to build a social capital and long-term economic growth. In most countries, educational programs are created by teachers supervised by governments to share the common values and beliefs of the international system. It is important not to forget the power and importance of the professors who teach new generations how to think by themselves and express their opinions.

Conclusion

Education is the most empowering force in the world. The power of education can lead to nation building and reconciliation by playing a key role in social, economic and human development. Education is the foundation of peace and prosperity.

Power in International Relations and Politics

Power is an important concept that can be observed in multiple fields. Indeed, power can be considered as an authority that has the ability to influence someone’s behaviors and decisions, in the doing of something they wouldn’t do in the first place. International relations have been considered as a concept based on the idea of power, and as multiple politicians such as Hans Morgenthau underlined, the notion of international politics and relations can be dismantled and studied through the multiple views of power.

A unique definition of power can be hard to find. As a matter of fact, when talking about international relations, power can be seen in multiple different ways by contrasting groups. Indeed, for example, the Marxists , depict it as a construction of power and economic ownership in contrast with the political liberal party, that identify power has the synonym of exchange and soft power, between different nations. Joseph Nye, Jr, an international relation theorist and analyst developed in the 1980’s the idea of ‘soft power’. ‘Soft power’ can be described as the way in which a delicate approach made of negotiation and examples can build power within a nation, and is in complete opposition with hard power that uses force, strength usually seen in a military and economic aspect to impose the collaborations of nations. In his book, “Soft Power : the means to Success in World Politics”, he insists on the idea that for a country such as the United states to properly and efficiently develop its control and influence, the appropriate use of hard and soft power is essential. He acknowledges the fact that the United States stress on their military dominance, but it is the soft power that will facilitate the resolution of global issues such as terrorism and global warming has a social interdisciplinary approach is needed.

Power in Academic Economics

Asymmetric information

Asymmetric information is a situation where either the seller or buyer in an economic transaction has access to more information than the other party. This imbalance of knowledge gives way to an imbalance of power. For example, a doctor will always have highly technical information about a patient that whilst the patient may have access to, they do not possess the knowledge to understand. This then gives the doctor power over the patient through suggesting medication and treatments that may not be necessary but are also not harmful and will earn him more money . Thus, asymmetric information is one way in which power is an issue in economics.

Gender Power Imbalance

Economics is a discipline concerned with ‘how humans make decisions in the face of scarcity’ . A social science, Economics straddles the humanities and STEM by focusing on innately human issues while using mathematics as a central technique for research and analysis. The nature of modern Economics and its increasingly mathematical emphasis can act as a deterrent to those who do not fit the ‘wall-street’ stereotype (typically women and people of colour). However, I think using Economics’ mathematical focus as an excuse for the lack of female representation is overly simplistic and, in most cases false. STEM disciplines are even more maths-oriented and still have over half of PhD’s awarded to women, compared to less than a third in Economics . The inequality in representation is more complex.

The father of economics, Adam Smith, serves as the archetype of the traditional (white and male) economist . Smith and his successors had the power to direct the discipline in a given direction and were unsurprisingly guided by the issues that affected them most. This led to the evolution of a male-tilted power dynamic in the discipline, where the content of research was both less accessible and less motivating for women. Furthermore, there is a significant wage disparity between academic economists, according to a 2019 survey of over 500 Economists men appeared to be paid 12.7% more than women (after adjustment for age) . This fact is particularly pertinent in a discipline that defines salary as being an equitable measure of the value added by your labour.

The impact of this inequality and the power imbalance it creates is significant. This is because modern economic research is instrumental in guiding the economic policy of governments and central banks and therefore has a direct impact on the lives of ordinary people. It is paramount that there are a diversity of minds co-operating on this research. Moreover, there are clear links between increased female representation and positive outcomes in business and economics.

Male Power in Urban Planning

Introduction

Urban Planning is a discipline that aims to manage cities and public spaces . It takes advantage of the expertise from the fields of civil engineering, economics, geography and sociology . It is an interdisciplinary area of study that benefits from different perspectives. However, for centuries Urban Planning, policymaking, architecture and politics have been male-dominated. Therefore, to plan shared areas, only the perspective of males has been applied. It created a male bias in Urban Planning. The dominance in this field gave males advantages in daily life. Male-dominated discipline favours one gender and gives possession of power.

Problems

Male power in Urban Planning resulted in cities being created for traditional, heteronormative families . It is connected to male land ownership and control over resources . The unlimited power resulted in the lack of understanding of members of the communities with different life experiences. Urban Planning, as a discipline, lacks inclusivity. The Urban Planning model did not take into consideration differences in race, gender, age or social class .. The daily lives of women are usually drastically different than males. Statistically, women use urban environments and public spaces more often and in different time slots . They require changed commuting solutions and routes. Minorities, females, children and elders are often underrepresented and do not possess the power to introduce new ideas for beneficial changes . Women feel less safe in public spaces than men. They tend to create mental maps of safe routes and limit the use of the public spaces to daytime only .

Solutions

The field of Urban Planning has recently started gender-inclusive changes. It requires an understanding of the standpoint theory and taking into consideration different life perspectives. One of the ideas that have been introduced to the urbanized cities is inclusive traffic lights and crosswalk signs . It does not directly improve the lives of women, but rather gives representation and empowers them. The local governments and urban planners are searching for new strategies to minimize discrimination and promote inclusivity. New strategies involve gender-based data research, women empowerment, creating gender-sensitive shared spaces and educating men to be the advocates of women’s problems . Vienna is one of the cities that have already introduced gender-sensitive strategies into Urban Planning . In 2009, the capital of Austria added gender budgeting to their constitution . Parks, housing design, pavements, and public transport applied gender-inclusive changes and became safer for females . Thus, women in Vienna are empowered and believe that they possess the power over their own lives. The government aimed to improve street lighting and cemeteries, focusing on the perspective of female users of the public spaces.

Conclusion

The power of men in Urban Planning is an ongoing problem. The history of male-dominated architecture has influenced public spaces all around the world. Understanding only one perspective limits people and gives an indirect power to one social group. This problem requires feminist solutions, that takes into account citizens from different religions, races, genders, and social classes. An inclusive approach can improve the wellbeing of all, giving one the power over their own life.

Power in North-South divide

Introduction

To begin with, the notion of power is defined as the ability to control or influence people. Battles of power all over the world incite conflicts, conflicts breed inequalities. If we look at a large scale, there is one issue in which difference of power has a large impact: The North-South divide . This gap can be found in different phenomenon and organizations.

Power and climate change

Power struggles hamper global warming agreements. Now that South countries are growing faster than Western countries and that their development is similar to the one of the North states in the 19th and 20th century, they feel injustice. For them, they are currently paying (and by that, I mean slowing down their economic, social, political development) because the Global North’s exploitation of natural resources accelerated global warming. They think they deserve the right to emerge like the great powers did before them. Obviously, given the current situation, Global North refuse these claims and use their influence to gain power on negotiation.

Power in worldwide organization

Following the subject of North-South divide and power, there is an interesting example in the world organization. In fact, the United Nations has a security council which holds some power. This security council is divided by permanent and non-permanent members. The permanent seats are occupied by Western countries from the Global North: The United Kingdom, the United States, France, Russia and China (now considered by many geopoliticians as a North State). These nations have a right of veto on United Nations decisions. It means that even in the biggest world organization created to maintain peace and to open the dialogue between all the nations in order to avoid conflicts, there is inequalities.

Conclusion

The notion of power is omnipresent in our current world. When we look at the North-South divide, it is clear that it creates inequalities and widened the gap between both sides.

Power in Social Media

Introduction

Social media has taken the world by storm and its power today is unparalleled. Social media influences all aspects of our lives and we are often unaware of the subtle power it has over humans. There are three different types of power which social media has over us, the first being through product marketing in order to increase consumer sales. Social media also has significant power over the mental health of its users, particularly teenagers. Finally, social media has the scary ability to slowly but surely manipulate our innermost psychological thoughts and the way we perceive the world, thus taking power over our everyday lives.

Marketing

Several businesses have taken to social media to extend their reach and attract global awareness to their brand . However, the true power of social media in the case of marketing lies in influence marketing. Influence marketing, at its core, essentially uses 'word-of-mouth' marketing between trusted people, often celebrities who will take to their social media to share their experience and adoration of the product . These influencers are often specialists, engaged in a dialogue with their followers and most importantly, they make their followers believe that they are the ones writing and delivering the message, not an external company . As a result, social media users find themselves victims of the influence marketing due to the power social media has over them. They see a familiar face with whom they identify with using a product which they then desire and proceed to purchase. Thus, it is not difficult for businesses to use social media as a form of marketing and to, over time, influence and have power over consumer’s purchasing decisions.

Mental Health

One of the most significant ways in which social media controls our lives, is its power over our mental health. Social media has become a place for one to share the most polished and idealised version of their lives, causing their followers to question their own lives lowering their self-esteem . The narcissistic behaviour exhibited by users of social media had led to a rise in body surveillance and body dysmorphia, in which other users become more judgemental and delusional about their body . Thus, social media has significant power over the mental health of its users who are being exposed to these unrealistic beauty standards everyday.

Daily Lives

The Social Dilemma is a thought-provoking documentary-film released in early 2020, which highlights the subtle manipulation of our lives by social media companies. They use our data to build a psychological profile of their users and, not only do they record every change in their behaviour, but over time social media companies gain power over their user’s behaviours. For example, the 'Pizzagate conspiracy theory' which led to a man shooting a gun into the ground at a pizzeria in order to liberate fictional child hostages resulted from a Facebook algorithm which promoted their groups to users who they recognised were more susceptible to reading into conspiracy theories . Every action we make on social media is being analysed and used to generate content which, as shown in the Pizzagate incident, can have power over our actions in the real world.

Conclusion

In closing, social media has significant power over our everyday lives and decisions. Whether it’s through influencing our consumer choices, changing the way we view ourselves, or manipulating our daily thoughts and actions, social media has power over us and often, we’re not aware of how powerless we are against its silent force.

Male Power in the Film Industry

For as long as film has been around (and probably longer), young girls have been bombarded with the idea of a 'knight in shining armour' being all they need for a happy ending. The almost God-like representation of men in film and television, has a substantial amount of power on the psychological development of young children but also is intrinsic in the industry itself, with scarce representation of women for nominations and wins for non gender specific roles in awards. This deep-rooted male dominance in the industry has not shown much, if any, improvement over the years despite women becoming more abundant in the industry.

Male Dominance in The Oscars

The Oscars is well known to be an extremely gender and race biased association, with much outrage this year over the all-male nominations for best director, notably the lack of nomination for Greta Gerwig's direction of 'Little Women'- a picture with a female director and predominantly female cast. However, looking at the Academy's history, this fact is less surprising. Since 1928, out of 449 total nominations for Best Director, only 5 have been female, Kathryn Bigelow being the only winner in 2010 for 'The Hurt Locker'. The inequality is even more evident in the Best Cinematography category with only one ever female nomination of Rachel Morrison for Mudbound (2017). The lack of recognition women in the film industry receive, silences their voices and gives power to men, predominantly white men, in the industry to construct the narrative that has such bountiful societal effects.

Power of Film in Society

With men at the forefront of the narrative, it's unsurprising that their portrayal is skewed. A study into '152 popular U.S. animated children’s feature films produced over the last 80 years' showed that 'main characters were more likely to be male and that males were portrayed as more powerful'. This powerful portrayal of men at such an early point in psychological development is an overt factor in the long-lasting gender roles in society and, as long as men have dominant power in the film industry, will continue to do so. The lack of power women and non-white creatives have in the industry has been set at a systemic institutionalised level, through indirect coercion, and great change must take place in order to rebalance and redistribute this power.