Week 1: Understanding power and its effects

Introduction

This week was written by Owain Smolović Jones and Fidèle Mutwarasibo.

Figure 1 Harnessing power to achieve equity lies at the heart of Black leadership

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The image depicts a Black female teacher standing in front of a school building holding some books.

Figure 1 Harnessing power to achieve equity lies at the heart of Black leadership

Power is the key ingredient for leadership in general and Black leadership in particular. Power is the capacity to affect the world around you, for better or worse. Historically, colonial Britain – and colonial powers more generally – systematically disempowered Black people, diminishing or removing their capacity to affect the world. Such disempowerment took the form of overt racism – racial slurs, segregation, slavery, physical attack and murder – but also subtler forms of disempowerment, such as microaggressions, derogatory cultural portrayals of Black people in culture and the deployment of racial stereotypes. Even as overt structures of disempowerment are challenged and defeated through law, we know that covert and subtler forms of racism persist.

It is important to understand how power works so that you can be better positioned to offer alternative forms of power. You will therefore begin this week of study by defining power, learning that it is not something inherently bad or good, but a collective capacity that can be put to various uses. From the basis of this definition, you will think about the largely negative effects of power – on the body and on the mind. You will explore how the body is restricted and potentially liberated as power affects movement, space and life. In terms of the mind, you will consider how the legacy of colonialism continues to affect mental health and the capacity of people to lead in ways that enhance equity. You will also learn how to identify practices of gaslighting, which are deployed to disguise oppressive forms of power, such as racism.

By the end of this week, you should be able to:

• understand a definition of power as the ability to affect the world around you, which can be used for oppressive or equity-enhancing ends
• identify and critically analyse ways in which power affects movement, space and life
• identify and critically analyse ways in which power affects the mind in relation to leadership practice.

The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional start-of-course survey [Tip: hold Ctrl and click a link to open it in a new tab. (Hide tip)] . Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.