COMMUNICATION, POWER, AND CRITIQUE: TOWARD A CRITICAL THEORY OF EVERYDAY RESISTANCE

Abstract

This essay outlines a critical theory of everyday resistance. This theory adopts a de-centered conception of law and power, and draws upon the theory of deliberative democracy to specify the conditions under which such power becomes illegitimate. This allows us to see everyday resistance as a symptom that discursive power has been generated under unjust conditions. Such an approach opens a new path of research in which we study everyday resistance as a response to the participatory deficits that exist in contemporary systems of power, and then identify the possibilities and obstacles for remedying those deficits.

Citation

Mackin, G. (2005), "COMMUNICATION, POWER, AND CRITIQUE: TOWARD A CRITICAL THEORY OF EVERYDAY RESISTANCE", Studies in Law, Politics and Society (Studies in Law, Politics, and Society, Vol. 35), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 191-218. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1059-4337(04)35006-4