Using Clear Fork Valley in central Appalachia as an empirical example, Gaventa attempts to discern the "hidden faces of power" - those forces which shape actions and consciousness in ways not readily apparent in formal American political processes. He seeks to clarify and expand upon past theories (by such writers as Bachrach and Lukes) on the nature and maintenance of power.
The region studied here is characterized by stark incongruity - the co-existence of massive natural wealth (coal and land) with pervasive human poverty attended by high unemployment, limited education, malnutrition, and the prevalent hazards of mining coal: black lung, dismemberment, death, and ecological ruin. This has been the region's status quo under the decades of domination by a British company and its absentee owners. Despite these departure conditions and frequently violent union struggles, culminating in the 1969 murder of UMW reformist Jock Yablonski, acquiescence to this status quo has been maintained. Gaventa searches out the answers to how and why wealth and poverty continue to coexist and the powerless continue to accede to the powerful. His astute analysis poses broader questions about the politics of poverty, working-class consciousness, and corporate power in America.
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Information
Publisher
University of Illinois PressYear
2026Print ISBN
9780252009853
9780252007729
eBook ISBN
9780252051968
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title
- Copyright
- Preface
- Contents
- List of Maps, Tables, and Figures
- Part I Introduction
- Part II The Historical Formation of Power Relationships
- Part III The Maintenance of Power Relationships
- Part IV The Challenging of Power Relationships
- Index
- Back Cover
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Yes, you can access Power and Powerlessness by John Gaventa in PDF and/or ePUB format, as well as other popular books in History & North American History. We have over 1.5 million books available in our catalogue for you to explore.