Dialectics and Domination: Reflections on Social Action

Abstract

The question is posed: can social activists be assisted by a conceptual scheme that is intelligent about the internal complexities of the social action process? A theoretical analysis considers the dialectic mode and the domination mode of social action. With the aid of two case studies (Three Mile Island nuclear accident and the Newport power controversy) the analysis concludes that the process of social action is an inter-mix of dialectic and domination modes. A new consciousness is called for which encompasses the need for strong action and the requirement to understand how dominance is often far more complicated than the caricatures that prevail in the minds of activists.