The Powerless and the Elites

The manner in which European colonialism generated neurotic and psychotic states in both colonizers and those colonized, coupled with the concept of double consciousness, casts important light on how power is exercised in developed countries such that citizens are inclined to submit willingly to those in power over them. The relations that previously obtained between the colonial metropole and those whom they colonized are somewhat analogous to relations in advanced societies between elites and those whom they control. There are masters and servants, and the wealth of elites is constructed through the power they exercise over those who serve them. The substantial difference between classical colonialism and today’s democracy consists of how colonized slaves recognized that others exercised power over them, and eventually came to struggle against them, while citizens of modern societies believe they are sovereign individuals, even as the power, wealth, and exclusiveness of elites continues to expand. European-style colonialism was exercised in the international arena by nations who regarded themselves as superior to the other nations they controlled as their own property. In contrast, the elites in today’s advanced societies exercise similar forms of domination in the domestic arena over those who regard themselves not only as free, but also as essentially equal with those who dominate them in all but their measure of wealth. This challenges current conceptions of liberal democracy, but has not yet been adequately studied. The present discussion seeks to help fill this gap by investigating these questions on a theoretical level against the background of studies of power, domination, hegemony, and governmentality in order to illuminate how power exercised by another may result in those who are dominated both desiring and approving of their submission.