Power in cultural studies
Name - Himanshi Parmar
Semester - 3 (Three)
Roll Number - 8
Email. Id. - himanshiparmar3004@gmail.com
Enrollment number - 4069206420210025
Paper number - 205
Paper name - Cultural Studies
Subject Code - 22410
What is Culture?
According to the Oxford Dictionary, “Culture is the arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively”.
2} “Culture is the ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society”.
The 19th-century English anthropologist Edward Burnett Tylor in the first paragraph of his Primitive Culture (1871) gave the definition of culture. For him, “Culture . . . is that complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society.”
Culture encompasses religion, food, what we wear, how we wear it, our language, marriage, music and is different all over the world.Culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people, encompassing language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and arts. Thus culture is considered as shared patterns of behaviors and interactions, cognitive constructs and understanding that are learned by socialization. Thus, culture can be seen as the growth of a group identity fostered by social patterns unique to the group.
There are many countries Like US, India, France, Italy, Germany, Russia, China etc that are world famous for their rich culture, Their customs, tradition, food, music, and art. That led many tourists to visit the place.The word "culture" derives from a French term, which in turn derives from the Latin "colere," which means to tend to the earth and grow, or cultivation and nurture, according to Arthur Asa Berger(opens in new tab). De Rossi said that,
"It shares its etymology with a number of other words related to actively fostering growth."
What is Cultural Studies?
According to the Oxford dictionary,
“Cultural Studies are The critical analysis of the texts and practices of everyday life in contemporary society. an interdisciplinary enterprise involving both the humanities and the social sciences.”
Cultural study is a field that deals with the study of culture and its impact on society.Cultural Studies is considered as an interdisciplinary field, that is based on theories and practices from a range of humanities and social sciences disciplines, that needs to investigate the ways in which cultures produce and are produced. A host of questions sits at the centre of Cultural Studies, such as what constitutes a text, how some texts, visual images, and cultural artifacts come to be valued over others, and how questions of value relate to the distribution of power and authority.Cultural Studies focusing on the whole complex of changing beliefs, ideas, feelings, values, and symbols that define a community’s organization and sense of itself.
Cultural studies first introduced in Britain in the late 1950s and later on spread internationally, notably to the United States and Australia. Cultural studies originally identified with the Center for Contemporary Cultural Studies at the University of Birmingham that founded in 1964, with such scholars as Richard Hoggart, Stuart Hall, and Raymond Williams, etc. cultural studies now became a well-established field in many academic institutions. Cultural studies has its broad influence in various subjects like sociology, anthropology, historiography, literary criticism, philosophy, and art criticism. But the central concerns of cultural studies are the place of race or ethnicity, class, and gender in the production of cultural knowledge.Cultural studies were originated and developed by british marxist academics in late 1950s,1960s,1970s.The core idea of cultural studies is to look into social organization and to study as well as construction of their everyday lives.
There are four main goals in Cultural Studies, 1] Interdisciplinary, 2] Means of Production, 3] Political engagement, 4] Denies separation of ‘High’ and ‘Low’ or ‘Elite’ and ‘Popular’ culture.Cultural studies is related to many other fields like, Marxism, Feminist theory, Ethnography, Structuralism, Post colonialism, Social theory, Political theory, History, Philosophy, Literary theory, Media theory, Communication studies etc.
Power in Cultural studies
Before understanding the role of power in cultural studies, it is very important to understand the meaning of power. So here are the two definitions of power given by the Oxford Dictionary,
1}"power is the ability or capacity to do something or act in a particular way".
2} "The capacity or ability to direct or influence the behavior of others or the course of events.”
Power is a central concept in cultural studies. It is the idea that all things are socially constructed and that power is a central concept in social life. In a way Society is all about power position, where one is ruling and other are obliging. Power is the ability of its holder to make other individuals obedient on whatever basis in some social relationship. In Foucault's theories power is not only seen as brute physical force or faced in one single direction, but working net-like creating counterforces.
We can consider power as relations between people with different roles and statuses within society.The power positions are always seen as dynamic, where one power holder is always being replaced by another. Power can show different aspects of human interaction, either it is power of politics or economical power. a cultural group's size and strength influences their power over a region, area, or other groups. Cultural power lends itself to social power that influences people's lives by controlling the prevailing norms or rules and making individuals adhere to the dominant culture voluntarily or involuntarily. There are six Powers in Cultural studies,
1] Physical Power
2] Wealth
3] State Action
4] Social Norms
5]Ideas
6] Numbers (Quantity)
1] Physical power
Physical forces are mainly those who comes with physical ability to threat and to beat people.physical power is central to this interest. This is the power that intentionally and physically affects a person contrary to his will, one oriented not towards influencing, changing, or altering his choice, his will, but to directly opposing it physically. In Physical power, those who are more capable physically, more healthy are in the power. They have capability to supress, rule and to threat people.
Patriarchy is also example of physical power. Men and women have almost qual in numbers in the world, But still we have patriarchy. Because men are physically more powerful than women. The clash between men and women we find in many films also. For example 'Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gum', 'Bajirao Mastani' etc. In kabhi khushi Kabhi Gum movie, we find Amitabh Bachhan in the leading role who is the main in his house and no one able to point out him wrong even if he actually has. His wife and even his mother have been not allowed to ask or to tell anything, that showing how physical power working. Similarly we find in Bajirao Mastani movie, where Bajirao has more physical power than Mastani and Kashibai (His Wife), Kashibai is not able to raise her voice when she found her husband has an affair with Mastani. Not only Kashibai but no one from his state able to raise their voice against 'peshva'(Bajirao). And the reason is his physical power.
From this we can understand that physical ability are concerned with power. Those who has more physical power are in power.
2] Wealth
Money in today's world is power holder. But it is important to know that what is money,Money, according to economists, is a medium of exchange, store of value, unit of account. To which other social sciences might add, it is a source of status and social prestige, a provider of physical and psychological security, a contributing factor to human welfare and well-being, a basis for military strength, a source of public influence and political power.Money is one of the greatest inventions of all time. Like language, money is not a thing in itself but rather a social organization designed to promote and facilitate interaction and interchange between human beings over space and time.
Those who have more money, are consider as a powerful. We have one famous narration that we often heard many times that, ‘Money can buy anything’. Money comes to represent the overall power of society to achieve its varied goals in all spheres of life. Without money, modern society is inconceivable. Money plays a central role in economics today.Money is a remarkable human invention, a mental symbol, a social organization and a means for the application and transfer of social power for accomplishment.
Time and again Dilogues which showing importance of money are coming in our Films and literature also. There are several films like Murder - 2, Ishq,Agneepath which showing importance of money by their dilogues. We have one dilogue in film murder - 2 by Emraan Hashmi,
"“Bhagwan ke pehle ya baad agar koi cheez hai; toh woh hai dhan, daulat, rokda; imaandari ka certificate nahi”.
Another dilogue we find in movie Agneepath (2012) by Sanjay Dutt,
“Aaj ke jeevan ka doosra naam hai; rokda, paisa, maal”.
Not only olin movies we find the important of money, but also in literature we have several examples that are showing importance of money for example novel 'The Great Gatsby' is based on power of money and industrialism. Gatsby lost her lover when he was poor also got no respect, but when he became reach, he earned money, the entire city started joining him into the weekend parties organized by him, also he get his lover back but at the end we find he lost her and died because the husband of her lover holds more money than Gatsby. This how money shapes the life and fate of people. One dilogue from The Great Gatsby' Novel is prominent here,
"You need wealth, the more the better, to win over the object of your desire".
Modern capitalist theory is traditionally traced to the 18th-century treatise An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Scottish political economist Adam Smith, and the origins of capitalism as an economic system can be placed in the 16th century. If we analize capitalist pyramid, we find money holds the position above all. That is showing power of money.
Money
|
King/Government
|
Law
|
Military
|
Upper Class
|
Working Class
3] State Action
Each State has several special powers, Powers of law and government which all should have to obey compulsory. State power are not static, ut is changing from one to another with time. State action is related to politics. Those who hold upper position in politics, that hold all the power, below them, the power distributed according to positions. For example in India, prime minister and President has more power than others, then we have Chief Ministers of various states below them, then ministers and other government employees from first class, then second and third accordingly.
Main work of state is to shape people's behavior. But while doing this, sometimes position holders controls people rights and behavior. The best example we have of it is George Orwell's Novel Nineteen Eighteen Four (1984). In which we find how government encroached people's basic Rights and supress them. There is one famous quote from George Orwell's Novel Nineteen Eighteen Four,
"Power is in tearing human minds to pieces and putting them together again in new shapes of your own choosing."
This how power in politics works, and those who try to go against the state power and rules, has been punished. For example Bollywood Movie 'Nayak'. When the hero try to raise his voice in Interview with politician, she forced to be silent and when he did better work than the politician as abone day chief Minister, he punished or we can say tortured by Politician as the electricity, water connection, telephone line, everything cut down. Also state holder broke their house. This how state action has a power to destroy or to built. State action holds the power.
4] Social Norms
Human are social beings, they are living into society.A society is a group of individuals that involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group which sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations.The term "society" came from the 12th century French société (meaning 'company').This was in turn from the Latin word societas, which in turn was derived from the noun socius ("comrade, friend, ally"; adjectival form socialis) used to describe a bond or interaction between parties that are friendly, or at least civil. Human beings are a social species that relies on cooperation to survive and thrive. Understanding how and why cooperation succeeds or fails is integral to solving the many global challenges we face.Social norms can mold our views, thoughts and behavior in certain way that one can not dare to disobey.
Since childhood it was taught to us that how to behave, how to sit, how to live, what to speak. It all are the lessons taught by our elders, in society elders are holding a power. Also in social norms experienced people are the power holders. If any of them disobey that norms they get Defamation and insult as punishment. Also sometimes they banished from society. With time the norms and rules are changing in society, it is not static at all. So it might be not crime today which at once considered as a crime. For example Intercaste marriages.
5] Ideas
Ideas and creativity are considered as a power. Those who has uniqueness and a fond of ideas are became powerful. who are rich in Ideas can easily undertake those who haven't capable to think so much. We also have one famous proverb in Hindi,
“अक्कल बड़ी या भैंस”.
It is showing how importance of thought and uniqueness required to overpower other who have no ideas and creativity. As a example we can take website makers, for example Facebook maker, Instagram maker and other website makers that are popular. We find they earning millions of rupees because of their unique idea and their creation. Similarly if we see Social influencers / Social media users that have thousands of followers, they all are people who have creative mind in comparison of others and that's why they are influencing millions of people, they are making trends,which followed by other people blindly, that is showing the power if idea and uniqueness and creativity.
6] Numbers (quantity)
If huge number of people thinking in a one particular way then it will easy to do what they want. What is not possible to do alone can be possible in a majority. That's why in our Business world we have importance of teamwork. Not only in Business world but in educational areas, in society and at minor lever in our family also. When people comes together for anything they can will. For example 'Kisan Andolan'. The 2020–2021 Indian farmers' protest was a protest against three farm acts that were passed by the Parliament of India in September 2020.Soon after the acts were introduced, unions began holding local protests, mostly in Punjab. After two months of protests, farmer unions—mainly from Punjab and Haryana—began a movement named Dili Chalo (transl. Let's go to Delhi), in which tens of thousands of farming union members marched towards the nation's capital.On 19 November 2021, the union government decided to repeal the bills, and both houses of Parliament passed the Farm Laws Repeal Bill, 2021 on 29 November. This how government Capitulate front of the large numbers of farmers. That shows the power of quantity.
Three Laws of power and Conclusions
This are the Six powers in cultural studies. Along weith it we have three laws of power in Cultural studies that are,
1) Power is never static.
2) power is like a water.
3) power Compounds.
All three we can easily understand after understanding six powers in cultural studies. Cultural studies analysing the power and power holders along with the changing positions of power. Because power is never static.
References
“Agneepath 2012 Bollywood Full Movie Hrithik Roshan.” Performance by Sunjay Dutt, and Pryanka Chopra, YouTube, Movies HD, 7 Jan. 2022, https://youtu.be/erjxRyx8gfY.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "cultural studies". Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 Jul. 2015, https://www.britannica.com/topic/cultural-studies.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "cultural studies". Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 Jul. 2015, https://www.britannica.com/topic/cultural-studies.
Fitzgerald, Francis Scott Key. “The Great Gatsby : F. Scott Fitzgerald : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming.” Internet Archive, אליאס, 25 Apr. 2019, https://archive.org/details/the-great-gatsby_1922/mode/2up.
International Pub. Co., Cleveland, Ohio. File:Pyramid of Capitalist System.jpg. 1911.
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