International Encyclopedia of Communication Online

Extract

The concept of power, who holds it and how they use it has been of great interest to almost every field of social science. A crucial way in which power is expressed and resisted is through language. Ng and Bradac (1993) argue that language reveals power, language creates power, language reflects power, and language obscures or depoliticizes power. It has even been claimed that there is no language situation, involving either public or private discourse, free from effects of power. Power can basically be defined as involving an unequal relationship between at least two people. Different types of power have been identified. French and Raven (1959) developed a framework of power which has been very influential. It contains five main categories : legitimate power (power due to position), referent power (power or ability to persuade and influence others), expert power (power derived from skills or expertise in an area), reward power (power that depends on the ability of the person in power to confer valued rewards), and coercive power (power that relies on using negative influence to get people to do things). These types of power involve situations where one individual or group has power over another. Out of the five, coercive power is felt to be the least effective form, since it builds resentment and resistance. The overt marking of all five types of power has been decreasing ... log in or subscribe to read full text