Power And Inequality In Interpersonal Relations

This book explores interpersonal situations in which weak or vulnerable people find themselves and the ways in which others help create, sustain, and eradicate such social dynamics. Vladimir Shlapentokh and Eric Beasley demonstrate that people can gain power over each other and then abuse this power because of unequal resource conditions. The authors define resources as the means necessary for satisfaction or achievement of needs or goals, such as wealth, physical strength, intellectual capacity and information, sexual attractiveness, and status. This volume is different from existing social science books on inequality and vulnerability, which address relations between people of different social positions, races, genders, ages, and places of residence confronting each other in political, economic, and cultural battles. This book focuses on people who become the victims of those whom they know personally-relatives, colleagues, neighbors. The authors argue that unequal resource distribution among members of social units is the main cause of conflict and ultimately creates situations where members of a social unit can abuse other members of the same unit.

"This book explores interpersonal situations in which weak or vulnerable people find themselves and the ways in which others help create, sustain, and eradicate such social dynamics. Vladimir Shlapentokh and Eric Beasley demonstrate that people can gain power over each other and then abuse this power because of unequal resource conditions. The authors define resources as the means necessary for satisfaction or achievement of needs or goals, such as wealth, physical strength, intellectual capacity and information, sexual attractiveness, and status. This volume is different from existing social science books on inequality and vulnerability, which address relations between people of different social positions, races, genders, ages, and places of residence confronting each other in political, economic, and cultural battles. This book focuses on people who become the victims of those whom they know personally-relatives, colleagues, neighbors. The authors argue that unequal resource distribution among members of social units is the main cause of conflict and ultimately creates situations where members of a social unit can abuse other members of the same unit."--Provided by publisher.

Contemporary racism, sexism, and heterosexism increasingly rely on less overt forms of discrimination that preserve, protect, and mask the power of the dominant group. This creates all manner of issues for people of color, women, and LGBTQ+ folks who must navigate a culture that increasingly sees discrimination and inequality as less severe or less pervasive than it was in the past. Indeed, despite the multitude of legal, social, and political advances made by these groups, inequality continues to persist, but often in a more subtle, covert, and invisible manner. The Reproduction and Maintenance of Inequalities in Interpersonal Relationships discusses the subtle ways racism, sexism, homophobia, and heterosexism persist in an era where many believe such inequalities are in the past and provides a comprehensive understanding of what inequality looks like in the contemporary world. Furthermore, the book examines how this inequality is reproduced in our everyday relationships. Covering topics such as discrimination and workplace relationships, this reference work is ideal for sociologists, psychologists, human resource professionals, academicians, scholars, researchers, practitioners, instructors, and students.

Causal explanations are essential for theory building. In focusing on causal mechanisms rather than descriptive effects, the goal of this volume is to increase our theoretical understanding of the way gender operates in interaction. Theoretical analyses of gender's effects in interaction, in turn, are necessary to understand how such effects might be implicated with individual-level and social structural-level processes in the larger system of gender inequality. Despite other differences, the contributors to this book all take what might be loosely called a "microstructural" approach to gender and interaction. All agree that individuals come to interaction with certain common, socially created beliefs, cultural meanings, experiences, and social rules. These include stereotypes about gendered activities and skills, beliefs about the status value of gender, rules for interacting in certain settings, and so on. However, as individuals apply these beliefs and rules to the specific contingent events of interaction, they combine and reshape their implications in distinctive ways that are particular to the encounter. As a result, individuals actively construct their social relations in the encounter through their interaction. The patterns of relations that develop are not completely determined or scripted in advance by the beliefs and rules of the larger society. Consequently, there is a reciprocal causal relationship between constructed patterns of interaction and larger social structural forms. The constructed patterns of social relations among a set of interactants can be thought of as micro-level social structures or, more simply, "microstructures.

An outline of how power, an inherent feature of social interactions, operates and affects close relationships.

This book investigates the complex strands that inextricably link gender and power relations, demonstrating how gender is constructed through the practices of power. The contributors argue that female' and male' are shaped not only at the micro-level of everyday social interaction but also at the macro-level where social institutions control and regulate the practice of gender. Power/Gender explores: how theorizing on power is affected when gender is taken into account; post-Foucauldian theory of gender and power; whether it is possible to separate gender and power; the connections between gender and the practice of power in political contexts, and how these connections work in the specific contexts of women's lives; and whether the construction of sex or gender is an expression of power relations.

The third edition of this text maintains its place as a key resource for learning the foundational and emerging theories in the field of interpersonal communication. With each chapter devoted to a specific theory and authored by experts in that theory, the book gives students and scholars a comprehensive overview of this field. This edition features an expanded discussion of theory development and evaluation, a new section on theories of identity and difference in close relationships, and increased attention to social media.With the theory chapters sharing the same structure, the book ensures consistent coverage of topics within each theory. This book is an essential text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in interpersonal communication and is a valued resource for scholars.

Raising to the challenge of how to grasp such forms of inequalities that are mediated affectively, Affective Inequalities in Intimate Relationships focuses on subtle inequalities that are shaped in everyday affective encounters. It also seeks to bridge a gap between affect theory and empirical social research by providing ideas and inspiration of how to work with affect in research practice. Presenting cutting-edge empirical studies on affect and intimate relationships, the collection - introduces alternative and novel ways of conceptualizing the workings of affect in intimate relationships - provides tools for tackling the subtle ways in which affectivity connects with power relations in intimate relations - develops innovative methodologies that provide better access to affect as an embodied experience A fascinating contribution to the interdisciplinary field of affect studies, Affective Inequalities in Intimate Relationships will appeal to advanced undergraduates and postgraduates interested in fields such as gender studies, queer studies and cultural studies.