Seeking to frame the role of quiescence in unjust sociopolitical structures, John Gaventa delineates the intricacies of power across three different dimensions. He cites his Oxford mentor Steven Lukes, author of Power: A Radical View, as a purveyor of the concept of “invisible power”, or the internalization and acceptance of an unjust status quo. This third dimension of power is pivotal to understanding community inaction, which John himself bore witness to while in the Clearfork Valley with the Student Health Coalition (and later). It explains minimal organizing and protest as a consequence of systems which keep people from conceiving the existence of a problem in the first place, rather than of an apathy many believe to be intrinsic to the culture of poverty. Follow this link for access to the full-length interview.
Recorded October 2021.