Introduction: Why power is the central concept of the social sciences

Haugaard, M; Clegg, SR

Introduction: Why power is the central concept of the social sciences

Haugaard, M Clegg, SR

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Publisher:: Sage Publications
Publication Type:: Chapter
Citation:: The SAGE Handbook of Power, 2009, 1, pp. 1 - 24
Issue Date:: 2009-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Haugaard, M	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Clegg, SR https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6083-4283	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Clegg, S	en_US
dc.contributor.editor	Haugaard, M	en_US
dc.date.issued	2009-01	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	The SAGE Handbook of Power, 2009, 1, pp. 1 - 24	en_US
dc.identifier.isbn	978-1-4129-3400-8	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/11724
dc.description.abstract	The concept of power is absolu0ely central to any understanding of society' The ubiquity of the concept can be seen by a comparative Google search. The score for 'social power' is 376 million hits, for 'political power' 194 million which compares with 334 million for .society', 253 million for 'politics', 52 million for 'sociology', 'social class'at 280 million and .political class' at 111 million. Of course, such measures are crude but the fact that the combined 470 million social and political power hits outstrip any of the other categories, including the combined hits for 'social' and 'political class', indicales the absolute centrality of theconcept. However, despitethis ubiquity itis arguably oneof themostdifficultconcepts to make sense of within the social sciences. Nonetheless, it has been a core concept for as long as there has been speculation about the nature of social order (Wolin 1960)'	en_US
dc.publisher	Sage Publications	en_US
dc.relation.ispartof	The SAGE Handbook of Power	en_US
dc.title	Introduction: Why power is the central concept of the social sciences	en_US
dc.type	Chapter
utslib.location	London, UK	en_US
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management	en_US
utslib.citation.edition	1	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.consider-herdc	true	en_US
pubs.edition	1	en_US
pubs.place-of-publication	London, UK	en_US

Abstract:

The concept of power is absolu0ely central to any understanding of society' The ubiquity of the concept can be seen by a comparative Google search. The score for 'social power' is 376 million hits, for 'political power' 194 million which compares with 334 million for .society', 253 million for 'politics', 52 million for 'sociology', 'social class'at 280 million and .political class' at 111 million. Of course, such measures are crude but the fact that the combined 470 million social and political power hits outstrip any of the other categories, including the combined hits for 'social' and 'political class', indicales the absolute centrality of theconcept. However, despitethis ubiquity itis arguably oneof themostdifficultconcepts to make sense of within the social sciences. Nonetheless, it has been a core concept for as long as there has been speculation about the nature of social order (Wolin 1960)'

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/11724