Performing Power Book Cover_Marcus Morgan

Front Cover of Performing Power

Faculty Fellow Marcus Morgan has recently published a book called Performing Power with Polity Press.

From the publisher:

The central contention of this book is that the exercise of power, and struggles for power, are inextricably linked to social performance. Political success can often be explained by the presence of engaging drama, just as political failure can be accounted for by its absence. The book explores the role of social performance in the exercise of power and evaluates the main ways in which performances of power have been understood in the social sciences, developing its own unique model for understanding them. Morgan argues persuasively that the social sciences need to take seriously the aesthetic dimensions of power, showing that in power struggles, appearance matters, and appearance is in large part achieved through performance.

Clearly written and illustrated with a wide range of contemporary examples, Performing Power will be of great value to students and scholars in political sociology, cultural sociology, and politics.

“The most up to date and comprehensive examination of the concept of power to be found anywhere. A necessary part of any social science library.”
Ron Eyerman, Yale University

“Over the past thirty years there has been an explosion of cultural theory and research on social movements. This is a beautiful synthesis of it all. From ancient theories of rhetoric to recent theories of characters, via performance and power and much more, Morgan brilliantly pulls it together, additionally giving emotions their rightful place at the center of meaning. A big advance in social movement theory.”
James M. Jasper, author of The Art of Moral Protest