Power, Authority and Patriarchy: Weber's Three Sources, Walby's Six Structures

Who keeps it in place

This part of the course has asked three questions in turn, and this module asks the last of them. First: what is inequality for? You met three theories that turned out to be one argument, about whether unequal rewards are a necessity that makes society work, or a relationship of ownership that keeps one group above another. Second: what does the evidence show? You met studies that tested those claims, and found a thesis rejected when it was retested, and a disagreement about whether poverty is a material condition or a cultural one. Third, and this is the module you are starting: who keeps the inequality in place? A structure that nobody maintained would not last, so a full account has to explain the mechanisms. Your specification names two answers. Weber asked where power actually comes from, and argued that people obey for three quite different reasons, which is more useful than it sounds because the three break down in different ways. Walby argued that patriarchy is central to understanding society, and set out six structures through which it operates, which turns a large claim into something you can examine one piece at a time. Both are lists you need in full. A partial answer on either is a partial mark, and this module drills both for exactly that reason.

Words for power and authority

Six terms from Weber. The three sources are easiest to keep apart if you ask what would happen to each if the person in charge changed.

Match each source to an example

Which kind of authority is it

People follow the instructions of an inspector they have never met, because of the powers attached to the post. Which of Weber's sources is this?

• Rational-legal, because obedience rests on accepted impersonal rules attached to the office rather than on the person holding it
• Charismatic, because the inspector is respected
• Traditional, because inspections have happened for a long time
• None: this is power rather than authority

Three sources, and two more ideas

Weber's account of power has three sources, and your specification treats all three as examinable, so learn them as a complete set rather than as examples. Traditional authority rests on established customs and inherited status: it is obeyed because that is how things have always been done, and its weakness is that it struggles when the customs themselves are questioned. Charismatic authority rests on devotion to an exceptional individual: it can arise very quickly and cut across existing arrangements, but it is fragile, because it depends on one person and rarely survives them intact. Rational-legal authority rests on acceptance of shared impersonal rules: the office is obeyed rather than the person, which makes it stable and transferable, since a new holder inherits the same authority. Notice that the three fail differently, and saying so is what turns a list into an analysis. Weber adds two further ideas your specification names. Social closure is the exclusion of individuals from a status group, keeping membership and its advantages restricted; caste systems are the clearest example, and the concept matters because it explains how a group holds on to advantage without needing to own the means of production. Parties are groups organised to pursue political or social power, and Weber's point is that these are not limited to political parties in the modern sense: any organised group seeking to influence decisions counts. Together these mean power, for Weber, is not reducible to economics, which is exactly where he parted from Marx.

Which two describe social closure

Select the TWO statements that accurately describe Weber's concepts of social closure and parties.

• Social closure is the exclusion of individuals from a status group, keeping its membership and advantages restricted
• Parties are groups organised to pursue political or social power, and are not limited to political parties
• Social closure means a status group choosing to withdraw from public life
• Parties, for Weber, means only organisations that contest elections

Weber in words

Weber distinguished power, the ability to get others to do what you want, from _____, which those subject to it accept as legitimate. He identified three sources. _____ authority rests on established customs and inherited status. _____ authority rests on devotion to an exceptional individual. _____ authority rests on acceptance of shared impersonal rules, so the office is obeyed rather than the person. He also described social _____, the exclusion of individuals from a status group.

Six structures, named in full

Walby (1990) argued that patriarchy is central to understanding society, and rather than leaving that as a general claim she set out six structures through which she argued it operates. All six are examinable, and an answer naming three has named half. (1) Paid work. Walby argued that women remain disadvantaged in employment despite equality legislation, in the work available to them and in what it pays. (2) Patriarchal relations of production. She argued that men benefit from women's unpaid domestic labour, which is work that sustains the household and the workforce without being counted or paid. (3) Patriarchal culture. She argued that different standards of behaviour are expected of men and women, so the same conduct is judged differently depending on who does it. (4) Sexuality. She pointed to double standards, in which having multiple partners is treated differently for men and for women. (5) Male violence towards women. Walby argued that this operates as a structure because it discourages challenges to patriarchal authority, and its effects extend beyond those directly affected. (6) The state. She argued that the state does relatively little to protect women, giving weak enforcement of equal-opportunities law as an example. Notice the shape of the argument, because it is what makes it more than a list of complaints: Walby is claiming that these are not separate problems but connected structures, which is why she says patriarchy is a system rather than an attitude. Everything in this card is what Walby argued. Report it that way in an exam: "Walby argues that...", not "it is the case that...".

Structures drill

Walby's six structures, from memory. All six are examinable, so a partial list is a partial mark.

Private, then public

Walby also distinguished two forms patriarchy has taken. The distinction matters because it is how she answers the objection that things have changed.

Asserting where you should attribute

Four sentences from answers about patriarchy. Select the ONE that asserts a contested claim instead of attributing it.

• Walby argues that men benefit from women's unpaid domestic labour, which she calls patriarchal relations of production.
• The state does very little to protect women, which is why inequality continues.
• Walby distinguishes private patriarchy, exercised directly in the household, from public patriarchy operating through low-paid work.
• According to Walby, differing standards of behaviour are expected of men and women, which she describes as patriarchal culture.

Building a Walby answer

Put the steps of a strong answer using Walby into order.

• State that Walby argues patriarchy is central to understanding society
• Name the specific structure or structures the question is about
• Explain the mechanism: how that structure produces or maintains disadvantage
• Use the private and public distinction to explain how the form has changed
• Evaluate: say what the argument explains well and where it has been questioned

Two structures, explained properly

A question asks how far patriarchy explains women's position in society. Here is part of an answer that would score well, and it shows what "explain the structure" actually means. "Walby (1990) argues that patriarchy is not a single attitude but a system operating through six structures, and two of them show how the argument works. In paid work, she argues that women remain disadvantaged despite equality legislation, both in the kinds of work available and in what it pays, so the disadvantage persists even where formal barriers have been removed. In patriarchal relations of production, she argues that men benefit from women's unpaid domestic labour, work that sustains the household and the workforce without being counted or paid, which means the paid-work disadvantage is reinforced by an unpaid demand made at home. Walby's distinction between private and public patriarchy answers the obvious objection that things have improved: she accepts that women now have access to public life, but argues that exploitation has become collective rather than individual, operating through low-paid and low-status work instead of through exclusion. The argument has been questioned, for treating women's experiences as more uniform than they are and for underplaying changes in the workplace, and a full answer says so." Notice three things. Every claim is attributed to Walby rather than asserted. Each structure is explained by its mechanism, not just named, which is the difference between six words and six marks. And the evaluation is specific rather than a general remark that not everyone agrees.

State it as Walby argued it

Assemble a sentence that reports a contested position without adopting it.

Power in a real situation

Four situations. Identify the kind of power or structure at work, and how you would write about it.

• A newly appointed manager is obeyed immediately by staff who have never met them. Which source of authority?
• A group restricts membership so its advantages stay within it. What is Weber's term?
• A question asks why women's position has not changed as much as equality laws suggest. Which of Walby's ideas answers it best?
• You are writing about Walby's structures in the exam. What register do you use?

Explain power, authority and patriarchy

Explain Weber's account of power and authority, and Walby's account of patriarchy. Attribute every position, and evaluate both.

• Explain the difference between power and authority
• Name and explain all three of Weber's sources of authority
• Explain how the three differ in how stable they are
• Explain what Weber meant by social closure, and by parties
• Name all six of Walby's patriarchal structures
• Explain the mechanism of at least two of them rather than naming them only
• Explain Walby's distinction between private and public patriarchy
• Attribute throughout, and finish by evaluating what each account explains well