Three Faces of Power

Three Faces of Power offers the best of Kenneth Boulding: bold, innovative perspectives on past and present concepts. His creative analysis lays the groundwork for important future debates about power. Boulding explains that power can be divided into three major categories: threat power; economic power; and integrative power. Turning general deterrence theory on its head, he argues that the greatest error is to regard threat power as fundamental, for it is not effective unless it is reinforced by economic and integrative power. His conclusion has wide-ranging application to everything from the nuclear weapons debate to intimate personal relationships. Power. The word alone evokes images of great empires, of human misery, of personal triumphs and failures. Yet power has been--and continues to be--one of the most misunderstood concepts known to mankind. Now, in a fascinating new volume, Kenneth Boulding marshalls his remarkable intellectual talents to explore and analyze the nature of power. Three Faces of Power offers the best of Kenneth Boulding: bold, innovative perspectives on past and present concepts. His creative analysis lays the groundwork for important future debates about power. Boulding explains that power can be divided into three major categories: o Threat power, destructive in nature and applied particularly to political life. o Economic power, resting largely on the power to produce and exchange items--and on the constantly changing distribution of property ownership. o Integrative power, based on such relationships as legitimacy, respect, affection, love, community, and identity. Turning general deterrence theory on its head, Boulding argues that the greatest error is to regard threat power as fundamental, for it is not effective unless it is reinforced by economic and integrative power. His conclusion has wide-ranging application to everything from the nuclear weapons debate to intimate personal relationships. Three Faces of Power provides a refreshingly optimistic and challenging call to a world future secured through the power of human interaction and knowledge. It will prove essential reading for students and academics in all areas of the social sciences, especially peace studies, political science, sociology, family studies, communication, organizational studies, social psychology, and international relations. "With deft strokes of wit and delightfully apt analogies Boulding shares his profound insights into the most important component of human relations--power; its manifestations in brutal exploitation, in give...