Power
It is impossible to maintain the spirit and intent of justice for the oppressed while simultaneously permitting the hegemonic rule of the oppressor?
If you want to make a change in a community or in our larger society, you need to think about the people involved and their relationships to one another. Who is in charge? Who feels left out? Who is connected to important organizations? To make change we usually start with the people we know or have a relationship to and figure out how to influence the people we don't know, but who might have the power to change things. Power mapping is a strategy for figuring out (1) who you need to influence, (2) who knows the person you want to influence, and (3) who you can influence to get the process started. It is a valuable tool for individuals working with communities, providing a simple framework to better understand and leverage relationships and networks. Power mapping is also a tool for understanding the power structures we encounter every day in places like our school, the larger communities we belong to, the social structures we are a part of. We will try to understand what we mean when we use the word power. We will explore were power comes from, the types of power, what power allows people to do and the structures of power, or how power can be used to effect or prevent change.
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The Essential Questions:
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Enduring Understandings:
Power is the ability to control or influence the action of others. It is the ability to achieve goals even if others oppose those goals. There are three general kinds of social power: authority, influence, and coercion. Change can be achieved in a variety of ways: individually, by a group of people who have social power, or by a group of people who mobilize to get their voices heard on a specific issue. Mapping the power structures in your community can give you a deeper understanding of how to build strategy to effect change.
Power is the ability to control or influence the action of others. It is the ability to achieve goals even if others oppose those goals. There are three general kinds of social power: authority, influence, and coercion. Change can be achieved in a variety of ways: individually, by a group of people who have social power, or by a group of people who mobilize to get their voices heard on a specific issue. Mapping the power structures in your community can give you a deeper understanding of how to build strategy to effect change.
Watch the videos below. In your notebook, using what you learned from the videos, your reading, and in class discussions answer one of the essential questions above. This assignment should be no less than 500 words.
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