Arash Abizadeh (McGill University) publishes a new article entitled “Elicitory Structural Power and Agential Power” in the Journal of Ethics and Social Philosophy.

Abstract

Many theorists assume that social power operates only by way of agents’ intentional actions and their causal influence on outcomes—where causality is understood to imply making a difference. This article challenges all three assumptions. It defends, first, the idea that one can play a causal role even without making a difference; second, a notion of structural power as a species of “elicitory” power, which does not operate by way of one’s intentional actions; and third, a noncausal category of power whereby outcomes obtain without one playing a causal role. Recognizing nondecisive, elicitory and structural, and noncausal categories of power is practically, morally, and evaluatively significant: it serves the purposes of determining how to fulfill our aims; of assigning responsibility and blame; and of critically assessing a society’s normative standing in light of its power structure.