Power operates through indirect communication, not direct action

Evidence

The catalyst function of power is, therefore, based on very intricate causal complexes. This is precisely why power is to be understood only as a symbolically generalized communication medium. The development of abstract formulations by way of symbolically controlled selection complexes ensures at the same time that power is not seen as something dependent on direct action and interference by the power-holder on the power-subject. It is only by assuming a process of communication, that is, that the power-subject always learns by some indirect route of the selectivity (not only of the existence!) of past or future power-acts by the power-holder. — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 604

Categorization

• XREF: Power as indirect, symbolic communication rather than direct force maps onto Giddens’s ‘faceless commitments’ — the power-subject defers to a system without face-to-face interaction, exactly Stevens’s posture toward Darlington Hall. — connects to: Power is code-guided communication, not a property possessed by anyone; Power operates partly through perception rather than explicit verbal communication; Power operates through symbolic influence while coercion abandons symbolic generalization (+10 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 604

Broader Connections

• Power operates partly through perception rather than explicit verbal communication #expands (0.80)
• Power operates through symbolic influence while coercion abandons symbolic generalization #expands (0.70)
• Transparency can function as a mechanism of control, not liberation #expands (0.55) — , The Braided Reading EPUB, 1259