Speaker:  Arash Abizadeh

It has seemed to some that the more costly it would be to exercise one’s agential power over some issue, the less agential power one has. I argue against this cost thesis and diagnose the intuition behind it as reflecting a truth about having general-power over a broad range of issues and, furthermore, about the nature of being subject to (rather than having) issue-power. Although costs are not inherently inversely proportional to issue-power, they can contingently affect—for better or for worse!—issue-power in cases in which one’s power depends on the collective power of one’s group, depending how those costs affect the capacity to engage in collective action. Moreover, the collective power of a group and so its members’ power-with depends not only on the cost structure facing individuals, but also on the opportunities for forging solidarity and even a collective identity amongst members. Finally, the role of both costs and solidarity in explaining power-with also helps explain why being subject to another’s power does not inherently diminish one’s issue-power but rather increase it.

Please note that these seminars are open to the public and in person only.