Second, Mills offers the following attitudes/positions of 'a
good intellectual,' who according to Mills:
1. Does
not split work from life. Both are part of a seriously accepted unity.
2. Must
keep a file. This file is a
compendium of personal, professional, and intellectual experiences
3. Engages
in continual review of thoughts and experiences.
4. May find a truly bad book as intellectually
stimulating and conducive to thinking as a good book.
5. Must have an attitude of playfulness
toward phrases, words, and ideas. Along
with this attitude one must have a fierce drive to make sense out of the world.
6. Is stimulated
by assuming a willingness to view the world from the perspective of others.
7. Should not be
afraid, in the preliminary stages of speculation, to think in terms of
imaginative extremes.
8. Should
not hesitate to express ideas in language which is as simple and direct as one
can make it. Ideas are affected by the manner of their expression. An
imagination which is encased in deadening language will be a deadened
imagination.
(As you reflect upon these 'positions,' I would also like you to think about
this whole project of theorizing and studying power. In what ways does the
position of the 'outsider' witness/observer/knower privilege you? We will pick
this up a bit more as we move into our unit on 'capital' and the thinking of
Pierre Bourdieu but it is sufficient at this point that you merely 'meditate'
on that that thought.)
Mills' (1956) The Power Elite dives explicitly into the issue of power and positionality in the context of post-WWII America. His sociological study, theorizes the rise of a 'new' super class, he calls the 'power elite'. As a sociologist, he provides an explicit description of the people (biography), institutions and unique society that constitute the 'power elite," which defines as "those who occupy the command posts" (p. 23). During this unit, I would like you to reflect on the following questions:
- How is power 'positional'?
- What is the biography/biographies of the powerful in my community?
- Which structures 'house' the powerful in my community?
- Does the person make the power or does the position make the power?
- What is the specific historical narrative of the power elite in my community?
- How does globalization complicate the notion of a power elite?
- In what ways has the mass media transformed power elites the world over?
- How does the notion of a power elite help you understand intercultural relations at Franklin?
Netflix's wildly popular original series, House of Cards, provides a wonderful 'symbolic token' to work through power. Indeed, dramas--fiction and non--are a beautiful place to examine and 'make visible' power in practice. Though this television drama is fictional, it demonstrates, reflects upon and allows us to see and discuss power as it may operate in American society. As you watch the following excerpt (season one trailer), can you identity any of the concepts or phenomenon Mills describes in his work?
Want to learn more?
Positions of Power Growthwork
TED TALK- Joseph Nye: Global Power Shifts
Passages: Mills
Thatcher and Reagan's Elite Ties
Positions Tags