Having discussed process-orientation as the first strand in empowering society, we now move to the second strand in our conceptualisation of empowerment – the bases of power. Power with its varied nuances is an inherent part of empowerment. It is therefore important to understand the meaning and sources of power as well as the responsible use of power as an integral part of the empowerment process. The interventions aimed at empowerment have to be clear about what kind of power is being sought and how that power is to be used by the people who are empowered. The approaches to power and the various bases of power postulated by scholars is first described. This would lay down the spectrum of choice for empowerment by the three types of organisational systems.

Approaches to Power

Max Weber (1968) was perhaps the first one to attempt to define power. According to him, ‘power is the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance, regardless of the basis on which this probability rests’. Using this as the basic parameter for his conceptualisation, Milan Zafirovski (2001) has explained the notion of power as ‘the potential (stochastic) or actual (de facto) individual and group capability, based on unequal positions in economy and society, i.e. in the economic system or social structure, to impose definite ideas, values, wishes, or interests on other individuals or groups, by overcoming the resistance of these individuals and groups’. Others have echoed the same ideas somewhat differently.