Manifest conflict reveals only part of how power shapes outcomes

Evidence

Other students of power, however, have seen such a limitation as unfortunate. While the use of power in manifest conflict naturally is of major significance, such cases may only reflect the visible part of what could be called the iceberg of power. In less easily discernible ways - so to speak, below the surface - power may play other and crucial roles in distributive processes. The power resources approach therefore focuses not only on the direct, but also on the indirect consequences of power, indirect consequences mediated through various alternative strategies and actions available to holders of power resources. — Walter Korpi, The Iceberg of Power below the Surface, 4 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

In the debates on the conceptualization of power, scholars within the so-called behavioural approach want to restrict the concept of power to cases involving clearly visible conflicts, such as when demands by Actor A are resisted by Actor B, who is forced to yield to the demands made. Other students of power, however, have seen such a limitation as unfortunate. While the use of power in manifest conflict naturally is of major significance, such cases may only reflect the visible part of what could be called the iceberg of power. In less easily discernible ways - so to speak, below the surface - power may play other and crucial roles in distributive processes. — Walter Korpi, The Iceberg of Power below the Surface, 4 (#expands, via linked claim)

Power, according to Foucault, can.. not be understood solely on the model of domination as something possessed and deployed by individuals or sovereign agents over others, with a singular intentionality, structure, or location that presides over its rationality and exe.. cution. Rather, power is to be understood as a strategic relation of force that permeates life and is productive of new forms of desires, objects, relations, and discourses ( Foucault 1978, 1980 ). Secondly, the subject, argues Foucault, does not precede power relations, in the form of an individuated consciousness, but is produced through these relations, which form the necessary conditions of its possibility. — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 131 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Power operates through indirect, non-conflictual channels hidden below manifest conflict — Walter Korpi, The Iceberg of Power below the Surface:…, 4; Power works by temporalizing violence into avoidable future events rather than present force — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 24; Power operates through symbolic influence while coercion abandons symbolic generalization (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Power operates through indirect, non-conflictual channels hidden below manifest conflict #corroborates (0.95) — Walter Korpi, The Iceberg of Power below the Surface, 4
• Restricting power to visible conflict captures only power’s tip. #expands (0.88) — Walter Korpi, The Iceberg of Power below the Surface, 4
• Power produces subjects and desires rather than merely repressing them #corroborates (0.85) — Saba Mahmood, Politics of Piety, 131
• Power operates partly through perception rather than explicit verbal communication #corroborates (0.82)
• Power operates through symbolic influence while coercion abandons symbolic generalization #corroborates (0.80)
• Power works by temporalizing violence into avoidable future events rather than present force #expands (0.78) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 24
• Repression and war are twin hypotheses about power’s mechanisms #qualifies (0.75) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 36
• Power processes grow social resources and detach action from natural motives #expands (0.72) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 634