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As we noted, power exists in every social encounter. But what are the sources of power? In our last section we saw that power can originate from persuasion, like when a salesperson has a "good rap." And power can come from differences in exchange positions (like when a man wants to date an attractive woman). In this section we want to consider two other sources of power: authority and organizational position. The concept of organizational position gets at the fact that organizations, especially bureaucratic ones, explicitly place power in positions. So, for example, your boss at work is, well, your BOSS! S/he can tell you what to do because of organizational position.
We have talked about Weber's notions of authority when we were thinking about political power-remember the three different kinds of authority: charismatic, traditional, rational/legal. Our on-line readings give us two examples of these kinds of power. One of the readings is about Jim Jones. Jim Jones was a religious leader in the 1970s who developed a large following of believers. But his ministry ended in tragedy. On November 18, 1978, in a cleared-out patch of Guyana's jungle, Reverend Jim Jones ordered the more than 900 members of his congregation to kill themselves by drinking a cyanide potion, and they did. That is an expression of ultimate power. How something like that could happen is a study in charismatic power. Your other reading is an example of rational/legal power, in particular the power of expert systems, like medical doctors. At issue in this reading is the power of the medical profession to define behaviors and thus enforce solutions and change behaviors. How this happens is a study in rational/legal authority.
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In addition to these considerations, there is another way in which authority and position play themselves out in daily life: through deference and demeanor rituals. Rituals in this case are socially patterned behaviors that have symbolic meaning. So there is a difference between routine and ritual. Brushing your teeth in the morning is a routine; it doesn't have any symbolic meaning past the event. But a man opening the door for a woman does have meaning past the event. Opening the door isn't simply utilitarian (the best way to get the job done, like brushing your teeth). Nor is it simply being polite. That one small act represents gender relations. It represents the woman as someone deserving or needed to be cared for, and it represents that man as the caregiver; the woman as weak and the man as strong. And in representing gender relations, it reproduces them. That's why many feminists have objected to the behavior.
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Deference and demeanor are two behaviors centered on status positions and power. Deference refers to the honor that we give someone. And demeanor refers to the way in which we present ourselves that communicates the level of respect or honor that we expect. For example, a gang member carries himself in a way that tells you to respect him and it tells you how much and what kind of respect (deference) to give. And it's the same with medical doctors and teachers (the cues are different because the respect is different). When the medical doctor comes in wearing her white smock with a name tag that says Dr. Jones, reading out of a file with your name on it, with perhaps a nurse in tow, she is telling you just the kind and how much deference you are supposed to give her. And it is the same with teachers. Around my school, the teachers present themselves in such a way that communicates to the students that they are supposed to call them Dr. or Professor.
Giving another individual the title of Dr. or Professor or Mr./Mrs./Ms. is showing respect, deferring to their higher status. And the important point for us here, in showing respect we are reproducing the authority structure in back of the titles. And as we have already learned, authority is one way that power is exercised. Deference and demeanor rituals, then, are subtle ways through which we create social power differences.
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