The popular–personal theory of power was developed to explain how people use information to gain

power Power may refer to: Common meanings * Power (physics), meaning "rate of doing work" ** Engine power, the power put out by an engine ** Electric power, a type of energy * Power (social and political), the ability to influence people or events Math ...

. In the book ''Information and Power'', Segev argues that people gain power as they use information to craft popular and personal stories. Popular stories such as

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their use for the purpose of obtaining profit. This socioeconomic system has developed historically through several stages and is defined by ...

socialism Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

democracy Democracy (from , ''dēmos'' 'people' and ''kratos'' 'rule') is a form of government in which political power is vested in the people or the population of a state. Under a minimalist definition of democracy, rulers are elected through competitiv ...

nationalism Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation, Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Theory, I ...

, or

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

facilitate cooperation among people, and are often shaped to accommodate the needs of the few people and groups in power. Personal stories, on the other hand, accommodate individual needs and define the unique role of each person within those popular stories. Powerful and stable societies are able to maintain popular and personal stories in a certain balance. Once this balance is disturbed, there is a growing unrest among individuals and groups, which could lead to social transformations and modifications of the stories to support new

social structures In the social sciences, social structure is the aggregate of patterned social arrangements in society that are both emergent from and determinant of the actions of individuals. Likewise, society is believed to be grouped into structurally rel ...

. Popular and personal stories are mechanisms to control the flow of information that constantly compete but also complete each other. For example, in the popular story of

, money and wealth are the main motivation for people to cooperate. People develop common stories and establish companies and organizations to gain economic power. Within those companies, people further develop

personal Personal may refer to: Aspects of persons' respective individualities * Privacy * Personality * Personal, personal advertisement, variety of classified advertisement used to find romance or friendship Companies * Personal, Inc., a Washington, ...

stories to cooperate and compete, and to define their unique role in the popular story of capitalism. They can become managers, product developers,

marketers Marketing is the act of acquiring, satisfying and retaining customers. It is one of the primary components of business management and commerce. Marketing is usually conducted by the seller, typically a retailer or manufacturer. Products can ...

, or customers. Through the products that people consume they further define their personal stories. While

has become one of the most popular stories today and a major means to gain power, it has also led to growing economic inequalities, monopolies of tech companies, global exploitation of resources in poorer countries,

commercialization Commercialisation or commercialization is the process of introducing a new product or production method into commerce—making it available on the market. The term often connotes especially entry into the mass market (as opposed to entry into e ...

of media and politics, decline of

social capital Social capital is a concept used in sociology and economics to define networks of relationships which are productive towards advancing the goals of individuals and groups. It involves the effective functioning of social groups through interper ...

, growing information

surveillance Surveillance is the monitoring of behavior, many activities, or information for the purpose of information gathering, influencing, managing, or directing. This can include observation from a distance by means of electronic equipment, such as ...

and the loss of privacy. More people around the world feel unease with the unprecedented dominance of global corporations. They become powerless and are unable to relate and express their personal stories and needs. The popular-personal theory helps to understand the crisis of capitalism today and explore new alternative stories to bring back the balance and accommodate the needs of more people.

References

{{reflist Power (social and political) theories