Taking up the challenge of understanding power in its complexity, this volume returns to and revitalises the concept of ‘authority’. It provides a powerful analysis of the ways that relationships of trust, attachment, governance and inequality become possible when subjectivities and bodies are invested in the life of power. The collection offers a vibrant new analysis of the biopolitical, arguing that ‘experience of life’ has become equated with ‘objectivity’ in contemporary culture and has thus become a primary basis of authority. ‘Biopolitical’ or ‘experiential’ authority can be generated through reference to a variety of experiences, performances or intensities of life including creativity, radicalism, risk-taking, experimentation, inter-relation, suffering and proximity to death. The authority-producing capacities of community and aesthetics are key issues, pointing to vexed relationships between politics and policing, inventiveness and violence. The contributors develop their theoretical analyses through discussion of a range of specific sites including mental-health service user and survivor politics, biological knowledge, refugee activism, stories of suffering, urban art, anarchism, neo-liberal community politics and marketization. Authority, Experience & the Life of Power challenges thinking on what ‘the political’ is and isn’t, pushing against the all too easy equivocation of revolutionary break and empowerment. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Political Power.

The Clash of Power and Authority seeks to answer a simple question: Why have so many people of humble backgrounds touched so many lives while many people of power have not made a positive impact? This reflection is crafted through my observation of people of power and experience working with people of authority. My thoughts have led to the emergence of the notion that there is a constant battle between power and authority. This book is a testimony of my experience with such contrast at a young age while working with Jack Wall, a person of authority, who has dedicated his life to serving the poor. I have learned from Jack Wall that one can have a life of impact through the search for purpose. The principles urged by this book are offered as advice and can be applied by people of all ranks of life. Whether you are a young student or a professional, and whether you are building a family, a business, a ministry or a community, the driving force behind your action comes from how you respond to your call to serve. This book challenges several standards of success assumptions, including the view that one can have an impact on society only if he or she has power, money and is well connected. I redefine success as the degree of our response to our calling and our commitment to that calling. The challenge that awaits everyone who wants to make an impact on society is to know how to obtain authority.

Power has a God-given role in human relationships and institutions, but it can lead to abuse when used in unhealthy ways. Speaking into current #MeToo and #ChurchToo conversations, this book shows that the body of Christ desperately needs to understand the forms power takes, how it is abused, and how to respond to abuses of power. Although many Christians want to prevent abuse in their churches and organizations, they lack a deep and clear-eyed understanding of how power actually works. Internationally recognized psychologist Diane Langberg offers a clinical and theological framework for understanding how power operates, the effects of the abuse of power, and how power can be redeemed and restored to its proper God-given place in relationships and institutions. This book not only helps Christian leaders identify and resist abusive systems but also shows how they can use power to protect the vulnerable in their midst.

Introduction to Politics and Society comprehensively demonstrates how key theoretical and concepts in political science have foretold, rationalized and shaped politics in the contemporary world. Students will discover the meaning of `power′, `authority′, `coercion′, `surveillance′ and `legitimacy′. The ideas of Weber, Marx, Foucault, Bauman, Sennett, Habermas, Baudrillard and Giddens are explained with clarity and precision. Well-chosen examples, many from popular political culture illustrate the relevance of fundamental theoretical debates. This book also examines: - The central tendencies in the movement from modern to post-modern society - The significance, strengths and weaknesses of `Third Way′ politics - The decline of organized party politics - The development of new social movements Developed with an understanding of the requirements of students and lecturers, this book is an extraordinary resource for undergraduate teaching and study needs. It will be required reading for undergraduate students in sociology, politics and social policy.

In Understanding the Purpose and Power of Authority, best-selling author Dr. Myles Munroe turns the widely accepted but counterfeit concept of authority upside down. Then, he reveals God’s original intent, showing us how to live in the freedom of our own personal authority in God’s great design and to respond positively to the inherent authority of others. Many people view authority as something oppressive, stifling, and even fearful. All of us hate to be controlled or manipulated. Our negative concepts and experiences of authority produce life-draining emotions—fear, distrust, suspicion, friction, defensiveness, antagonism, stress, worry, and dread. Others have a limited perspective of what authority means, believing that only people who reach a certain “level” in life can exercise it. They don’t believe they could ever be called to a place of authority. The truth is, we were all created for authority, and we are all answerable to the authority of others. Authority is what we’re authorized to do by our inherent purposes. You have a God-given calling to develop your own personal authority to carry out your unique purpose in life.

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy New York Times bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control – from the author of The Laws of Human Nature. In the book that People magazine proclaimed “beguiling” and “fascinating,” Robert Greene and Joost Elffers have distilled three thousand years of the history of power into 48 essential laws by drawing from the philosophies of Machiavelli, Sun Tzu, and Carl Von Clausewitz and also from the lives of figures ranging from Henry Kissinger to P.T. Barnum. Some laws teach the need for prudence (“Law 1: Never Outshine the Master”), others teach the value of confidence (“Law 28: Enter Action with Boldness”), and many recommend absolute self-preservation (“Law 15: Crush Your Enemy Totally”). Every law, though, has one thing in common: an interest in total domination. In a bold and arresting two-color package, The 48 Laws of Power is ideal whether your aim is conquest, self-defense, or simply to understand the rules of the game.

Spiritual authority and power in the life and ministry of a minister of God do not come as a result of empty wishes and aspirations, but from a deliberate and conscious choice of the narrow way, and a determination to pay the required godly price to acquire these. In this special volume of the From His Lips series, the author Z.T. Fomum, through his personal experience, brings to the limelight substantial ingredients for godly spiritual authority and power for Christian ministry. In this light, a radical love for the Lord Jesus manifested through prompt and costly obedience, a total and supreme love for God’s children, an uncommon separation from self, sin, and the world, a deliberate choice of the pathway of suffering and sacrifice for the Lord. a determined decision to continue in the word of God, amongst others, become indispensable choices for all who hope to get to great heights with God. This book is a strong voice and life experience backing the doctrine outline in the following books by the author: Discipleship at Any Cost, The Way of Discipleship, and The Making of Disciples God bless you!