Whoever controls category definitions holds the basis of social power.
Evidence
In short, category definitions are the basis of social power (Turner, 2005). They are, quite literally, world-making things. Those who control category definitions are therefore in a position to make and remake the world. This makes the question of how category definitions come about a matter of societal as well as individual concern. — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 77
Categorization
- corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 77
- XREF: connects to: Identity redefinition succeeds only where mobilization outpowers sedimented resistance. — Stephen Reicher, S. Alexander Haslam, and Nick Hopkins, Social identity and the dynamics of…, 106; Social categories embed buried power relations that etymology can unearth.; Social power is the capacity to shape other people’s standing, exercised through state institutions. — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1735 (+6 more)
Broader Connections
- Social categories function as cognitive tools that position the self comparatively
#corroborates(0.85) — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 2716 - Social categories embed buried power relations that etymology can unearth.
#corroborates(0.80) - Power includes the ability to define contexts of public life
#corroborates(0.75) — Nina Eliasoph, Avoiding politics, 159 - Logical categories mirror social hierarchy and division of labor, not solidarity
#complicates(0.75) — Theodor W. Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Dialectic of Enlightenment, 43 - Social power is the capacity to shape other people’s standing, exercised through state institutions.
#qualifies(0.72) — David Theo Goldberg, John Solomos, A Companion to Racial and Ethnic Studies, 1735 - A society’s trust-proffering style is shaped by which social groups control self-presentation.
#complicates(0.72) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 296