Power and truth

Bibliographic Data

ID2397930
AuthorsMark Haugaard (0000-0002-2031-8900, Ollscoil na Gaillimhe – University of Galway, corresponding author)
Year2012
Volume15
Issue1
Pages73-92
Publication date2012-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Social Theory (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1368-4310 • E-ISSN: 1461-7137
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1368431011423591
OpenAlexW3125533958
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited25

In the literature, the power debate is divided between modern and postmodern positions. The former hold that power and truth are opposites, while the latter view them as mutually constitutive. These debates mix epistemological, normative and sociological claims. Using classical sociological methods, strict criteria for valid functional explanations are set out and the relationship between power and truth is explained in these terms. It is argued that agents use truth to create local social capital for themselves, which has the unintended functional effect of reinforcing the effectiveness and stability of social systems. This entails an account of authority as a performative act that meets with a felicitous reaction by others

Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Normative · Performative utterance · Postmodernism · Social science · Sociological theory · Sociology · Contemporary Sociological Theory and Practice · Critical Theory and Philosophy · Philosophy · Social and Cultural Dynamics

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub