Saturday, January 14, 2012
Power of the weak
What a contradiction! But, that is what weapons of the weak indicate. Wherever power dichotomy exists such as landlord-labourer, teacher-student, Leader-follower, voter-legislator, parent-child, it is most likely that weapons of the weak will be used. Do we have examples of how weapons fo the weak limits the choices that powerful person has got?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
50 comments:
Weapons of poor are used against him often. In the case of voter-legislator, the poor has the biggest weapon to vote and choose a candidate. But often voting happens on the basis of caste and religion or sometimes votes are sold by poor for little monetary gain or liquor. In the process they lose their power and select a candidate, who never comes to them in future. Uttar-Pradesh is the recent example where elections are going to held next month.
Rohitash (32088)
Weapons of the week indicates the ways in which week resist the actions of powerful with least confrontation because of consequences. This is exhibited without any organised action/ leader and not with open defiance. This includes false compliance, pilfering, ignorance sabotage etc. In case parent child power dichotomy, Parents want their children to become engineers/doctors, for that they enrol their children to classes for entrance exam but many children who are not interested in that cannot resist directly that they don’t want to study it but they join the classes and do not pursue it sincerely.
Mahesh Dharap
p32019
Land lord happened to be exploitative but the situation has changed; now the labourers in form of tenants have started exercising more power. Cash tenancy is preferred because cash tenants take all the risk of harvest failure, so they offer lower rent as the cost of bearing the risk. Urbanization has caused many landlords to shift to the urban areas leaving their land on the labourer on rent. Since farming is not very incentivized occupation so the landlords rarely visit their field, hence the distribution of the crop is left on the faith of the labourer.
Ritu kashyap
(32037)
In most power hierarchy it is observed that the person at the upper ladder tries to over exercise his/her power. In the power relation of an employer and an employee where in the employees are overburdened with extra work, are bound to work in a monotonous work culture and their extra work is not recognised and compensated appropriately the employee work just for the sake of getting salary. The most common example is observed in the railway reservation counters where the staffs put a board of ‘link is slow” when there is a heavy rush.
Shipra (32092)
Most of the time if weapons are used strongly it harm more to weak people than it harm to others. For example, in a factory, if the workforce or labour goes for an open strike, it is likely to be calamitous in terms of permanent dismissal or jail for the workforce. To avoid this, workforce may rest to a slowdown or to shoddy work on the job. This will affect the powerful persons in the factory as it will lower down the efficiency of work and output products will have more frequency of defects.
Gaurav Singhal(32014)
Weak is a generic adjective pertaining to a general state of feebleness, a lack of strength or vigor.... keeping this in mind i must say that there is nothing like "power of weak"... its more or less a paradox... if someone is weak then his state of mind will prevent him from using any weapons of retaliation (even if its a collective action) against any oppression
Salman haider
32089
Consider the case of middle-east uprising, common masses collectively usurped dictators from their power. This process also limited the power of agencies parallel to them like Military, police etc that even when they are highly equipped with arms they can't attack people. Basically it showed the importance of numbers, weaks are more in number, and the powerful can't do much to face such large number.
Gurpreet Singh Chabbra
32066
Even though it appears as a contradiction but still is something we come across pretty often. Power is not necessarily an attribute of strong. Power is defined as a mode of exercising influence. When someone cries in front of you to get his/her work done even though crying is classified as a sign of weakness but for that very moment it becomes the tool that gets work done. Similarly acts of sabotage,pilfering,shirking from work etc become weapons of poor against oppression.
SUNNU SETU
P32042
Labor laws prevailing in the society are illustration of instruments, bringing in equality in bargaining power between weak and powerful. These labor laws exist at both individual/employee’s level and collective/union level and are generally framed and amended by forming a consensus between employers and employees. The point that needs to be pondered is how and why this consensus is established. It is understandable if we look from the perspective of employees, who are demanding better working conditions, but it is not so obvious from the perspective of employers, who have difficult goals to accomplish.
Pavan EVSR(32084)
Powers of weak reflect in the form of collective action which is outcome of long oppression by powerful. Its success depends upon how this power is used. Success of African national congress and failure of LTTE (Sri Lanka) can explain the extent by which uses of power of weak can limit the choice of powerful. Uses of power can give positive result only when if it do not affect the freedom of others. Whether uses of power of weak will limit the choice of powerful depends upon purpose of uses and its approach to achieve.
Rabindra Kumar (p32085)
Weapon of the weak is used by the person who is subordinate to the other in the power dichotomy structure. These weapons include foot dragging, sabotage, false compliance etc. Boycotting is another such weapon. Its chief importance lies in its ability to raise public awareness and arouse dissaproval. One example of this was during the colonial rule in India when the Indians wanted the closure of the East India Company and they started boycotting the foriegn goods.
Avanita
32058
In power dichotomy its always when the powerful have used their power against the weak and have exploited them the rebellions have occurred which we call the weapons of the weak.The recent example has been the agitation against the corruption where the government in power has been forced to bring the anti corruption bill by the so called weak voters who when came together became a powerful group. But again we can see that weapons of the weak can only be used when the weak come together.
Himanshu Bhardwaj
P32069
In any power structure there are two unequal agents one being strong and the other weak but it does not means that weak can not do any thing .It all depends on the direction and method of use of power be it weak or strong.The examples like success of Libyan revolution and failure of LTTE proves this fact that even weak when they want can change the situation but the method has to be right
Weak means that does not have power, who is subordinate to other person. He continues to follow the orders when he thinks that he has something to lose. But when the suppression is too much, he raises his voice. It can be in many forms like foot dragging, boycotting, sabotage etc. Democracy is another weapon that helps the weak to show his power. If nothing works it results in open confrontation. In most cases this weapon fails but when weaks are united and motivated a new Russian Revolution is not a distant dream.
A simple example can be of a manager who uses excessively coercive tactics to realize unrealistic expectations from his subordinates. The subordinates may anonymously go for resistance through defective workmanship or other unproductive practices. The manager here, does not publicize these acts of insubordination or defiance, because that may expose his unpopularity or his incompetence to manage. He, being the manager, is responsible for the defective work/produce. In this scenario, the manager may decide to resort to tactics (through incentives) which encourage voluntary compliance and may even realign to realistic expectations.
-Antony A O (32006)
Voluntary individuated subaltern resistance which are subtle and continuous constitute ”everyday forms of resistance”. This disguised resistance can in effect be structuring insofar as it can alter the decision-making of the powerful without the powerful being fully cognizant of the resistance. For eg. A worker is entrusted with watering plants regularly. The worker may appear to work well according all monitoring mechanisms set by the supervisor but despite this the plants fail due to lack of proper watering. Now the superior is forced to come up with some incentive for this worker because his protest is not overt.
Weapons of the poor are used when they are united and the actions are collective.An individual's initiative does not have much effect on the opposition.In this case I fully agree with Rohitash Jain. When there is a negotiation between the management and the worker union, they(the worker union) often use the unity of the workers, their unity .Usually their main weapons are boycott, lock-out etc..
Subhradip Barman(p32096)
Using the Power of the Weak, has been the strategy used by masses since ages! Be it to ask for votes from the minority community at times of election or to collect the laborers of an organization together against or for some new motion! The weaker the mass, the more vulnerable it is. And it is their this vulnerability that gives them power. Collectively they can bring about a change which is unthinkable even by the strongest!
-Jainee Nathwani
32071
Power of the weak is nothing but a state of mind which proclaims that the weak is no longer ready to be oppressed.It is this action of the weak that challenges the authority of the powerful and creates friction between them.
Arpit Bansal
32009
weak responds to his exploitation in two manners. one is open defiance which may result in violent revolution. but repercussions of this violent revolution may be very hazardous. one more way in which weak can respond to his exploitation is silent defiance which includes pilfering, feigned ignorance, slander, false compliance and so forth. these are the weapons of weak which have helped him to reduce the effect of his exploitation. it may force those who are sitting at powerful positions to recast their policies in line of more realistic expectations.
Parminder Singh (32083)
Yes, we have examples of how weapons of the weak limit the choices of the powerful. Anna Hazare's fast against corruption is such an example. One could also recall the visual of a chinese protester standing before a tank and hindering its progress during tiananmen square protests. The powerful cannot harm anyone publicly, deliberately . Hitting a fasting Anna with a lathi will have more serious repercussions than lathi-charging a mob. No one can rally around a mob but an individual act can be symbolic of courage against the powerful and can act as a rallying point and inspiration.
'Not acting' is the simplest way of understanding “Weapons of weak”. Using “weapons of weak” limits the options of dominant party in a dichotomous relationship by exercising power to get the favourable outcome in a subtle way without risking retaliation.
An important example from Indian History is “Freedom struggle”, built on the idealogy “Ahimsa”, exhibiting weapons of weak through Non-cooperation Movement , limiting the options of Bristish Government to use any mass scale violence to crush the uprising and proved far more successful than violent Mutiny of 1857 in achieving the ultimate goal of freedom.
Ashish Jena (32010)
According to the recent educational reforms, teachers are prohibited from beating up the students, however little it may be. The students, instead of learning from their mistakes, take it as an opportunity to find faults with the teacher and lodge a complaint at any small instance. As many educationalists foresee, this is detrimental to a child’s career, and in the longer run, to the nation’s future. Thus, many a times the government or external agencies form policies that are pro-weak and limit the choices of the powerful which often proves to be damaging to the larger society.
Arshia Gupta
Weak is one, who is suppressed by others and he does not have the authority and power to prevent it. Yet weapons used by weak are visible in case of uprisings like Egyptian and Libyan revolutions where people use the weapon of Unity. Similarly on a smaller scale, a domestic help (maid) does not have the power to openly express her disapproval. Yet she can still retaliate by a subtle denial from her duties like, not working efficiently, coming late, being excessively slow etc. These acts would then become her weapons against any kind of domination.
Ajay vikram singh(p32053)
One example of how the weapons of the weak limited the choices of the powerful persons is the resistance by the slaves imported from the African countries against their European masters. They used to steal their master’s provisions, without any compunction for same. They were chronic liars towards their masters. They always tried to appear stupid and dull, breaking tools given to them to work and spoiling everything they touch that can be injured by careless handling. The laziness was so ubiquitous that they were regarded as having peculiar ailments preventing them from working.
Raj kamal goldi
32033
Many a times the medical interns, undergoing compulsory internship are observed to be complaining about norms of the college, regarding the transfer of internship and matters relating to the minimal stipends they get in proportion to their long shift durations and increased on call workloads. Marginal attempts have been made by the concerned authorities, to address the issues. This has led to an exhibition of the dissatisfaction among the interns, in the form of defiance of rules or agitations demanding an increase in the stipends and revision of the rules and norms.
Many a times, the weapons of the weak can potentially cause a bigger psychological damage to the powerful than other means of open opposition. In the past, many leaders, both political and non-political, have been victims of public scandal that usually starts with gossip and slander about their conduct or character. Most of these culminate with the leader having no choice but to relinquish his position or authority. While open protests justify the tendency of the powerful to suppress them, these silent protests can hardly be fought against.
Parneet Kaur (32028)
One example that comes to my mind is of workers at a shoe factory in japan. They were unhappy with the salaries given and instead of directly going on a strike they resorted to counterproduction, by only making the left pair of the shoe. This not only keeps the protesters hidden in the masses but also is a source of great problem for the "ones in power".
Himadri Sarkar
32068
The weapons of the weak indicate the actions of the powerless against the powerful in a subtle manner. It is a form of everyday resistance and is exhibited by providing low quality service and such kind of quiet protests and noncompliance do not make them liable to punishment. A good example can be high teacher absenteeism of government teachers in the schools in the villages which could be possibly in protest of low salaries, inadequate opportunities and slow promotion. They also do not put required effort in teaching and show a lax attitude towards the institution.
Lipsa Mishra (32078)
power of weak doesn't lies in his individuality but the collectiveness they show when they come together. He may refrain from work or activity he is supposed to do, but if he stood with other people who are also being exploited by the large and powerfuls of the society, then they can together bring the change in their life.
Rajkamal Rawat
32035
At my work place, there used to be heavy work load during certain peak seasons and the floor staff was expected to triple its efforts. No incentives or holidays were allowed during this period. The floor staff , which appeared to be very busy the entire day, dropped down their efficiency and pretended to work more than what they actually did. As a result, every year the organization hired some temporary staff to help the floor staff during the peak seasons. This example clearly shows how power of weak can mould the working of the powerful.
Prerna Gupta (32030).
The power of weak is a misnomer, a person will not have power until the time he is weak. However, if many such people come together and work towards a common goal, they are no longer weak and hence possess power. Thus, collective action and a sense of cooperation is the biggest weapon possessed by the weak that enables them to turn the tables on much strong oppositions.
Kireet
Once dissatisfied with a road repair process in my locality, found myself on a weaker side against the authorities, the powerful with limited accountability. However, through RTI which acted as a weapon for the weak, accountability was created through a collective action of local residents who continuously pressed for the repair work and quality testing which made the authorities give up to them and redo the work in a way it should have been done.
Ankit Sharma
32005
Throughout history the weak have used everyday methods of resistance- foot dragging, feigned ignorance , sabotage to confront the powerful.The use of "Italian" strike by workers in Poland, methods of false compliance by the slaves in America are instances where passive resistance has been more successful than open defiance. Where open defiance may provoke ferocious response from those in power the weapons of the weak prevent the powerful persons from openly confronting the resistance as this would mean accepting that their policies have been faulty.
Mayank Gaur
p32021
It was indeed interesting to come across this term despite being ignorant to this phenomenon which is so common in our daily lives. One such recent example of Power of the Weak is the uprising in Libya where a small group of rebels challenged the established power of well known dictator, Moammar Gaddafi. Everyone supported their cause, thus making their helplessness their strength.
Raja Panchal (32086)
In the early 20th century, the British Empire was considered a powerful empire, while the Indians were considered a week, suppressed lot. Indians were many. Civil Disobedience Movement is one such example where masses formed into structured groups and resisted the British. They broke the rules, burnt the foreign goods and picketed the liquor shops. Since the movement took wings in the entire country, they couldn’t be suppressed easily. The British didn’t have much choice but to slowly yield to the demands (though over a span of time), and finally led to an independent India.
Sameera Mushini
P32038
A dichotomy or conflict of interest may well arise in the case of buyers/consumers vis-à-vis the sellers/manufacturers. The weapons of the weak in this context refer to the preferences or choices of the consumers, their demand for quality, reasonable price, etc. Consumers can use their weapon by exerting pressure on the manufactures. This pressure can take a collective form of consumer’s resistance or a movement for protection of consumer’s rights.
Ayan Roy(32061)
Weapons of the weak are the form of rights with the poor ones often used only when oppressed to limits.This form of resistance is mainly shown by scattered peasantry class, as with this type of movement they are not in direct institutional confrontation with anybody and also made their influence felt.
anurag srivastava
32056
Weapons of the weak are the form of rights with the poor ones often used only when oppressed to limits.This form of resistance is mainly shown by scattered peasantry class, as with this type of movement they are not in direct institutional confrontation with anybody and also made their influence felt.
anurag srivastava
32056
In this regard, the recent movie - Agneepath can also be quoted. As I watching the movie, I saw how people got into a sudden crowd action, and then how they later accepted the rule of Kancha, when they knew he was wrong and Deenananth Chauhan was right. Later towards the end, they unite and show the power of the weak.
-Bhavi Patel (32011)
A weapon of the week that has emerged contrary to non compliance is "Gandhigiri" .It can be described as the Force which is born of non- violence and Love. A woman who runs a school for poor children in Bangalore had purchased a new building, which was being used previously by a furniture company and they refused to move out. After struggling for nine months to evict them .One day she marched into the company's office with 20 children, and presented a card and bouquet to the manager. After about a week, they withdrew the case.
Shashank Singhania
P32091
We have discussed about various forms of weapons of the weak like false compliance, ignorance, foot dragging and others. Taking the example of GESS workers at IRMA, they might be unhappy over their contractual employment, would be demanding more wages and benefits and permanent job on a payroll. They would currently be protesting using the above mentioned weapons of weak. Will they discontinue such tactics / use of weapons once their demands are met? I believe it is highly unlikely and the laxity will continue as it probably has been ingrained over a period of time.
Darshit Shah (32062)
The weapons of the weak are the slow and silent methods of protesting the higher authority. As they do not possess adequate resources and courage to openly challenge the powerful they adopt this method of disobedience in a subtle way. The Government doctors who are posted in very rural areas join the duties but never deliver the services. The conditions in those villages are very bad and there are inadequate medicine supplies and poor infrastructure. Hence opposition of such poor conditions are done by not attending the hospitals regularly.
Raunak Shashikant Rao(32036)
The very essential weapon of the poor is their “vote”. But the rules of the game called election are designed very carefully. The powerful calculates “how to maximize for themselves the benefits of development” irrespective of what happens to poor whereas the poor calculates “how to minimize damages caused to them in the name of development”. The poor’s vote perhaps because it gives them a sense of temporary power. They join a largely hollow democratic process which promises no solution to their problems, but might accentuate them is wrong choices are made.
Mohit
P32025
Post a Comment