Tag: Deborah Baumgold

Presenter: Nicole Snyder, International Studies: Focus on Gender and Power

The discourse of domestic violence typically defines domestic violence in terms of physical assault. This project critically examines this assumption using the insights of Steven Lukes’ theory of power. He theorizes that power is wielded in three dimensions. The first dimension is overt conflict. The second dimension is having the power to control the conversation. The third dimension is power over another. Each dimension builds and reinforces the next, resulting in powerlessness. It brings to bear as evidence the oral stories of ten women concerning their personal domestic violence experience. It demonstrates that, as experienced by these women, there is more to domestic violence than domestic assault. Rather, the design and purpose of domestic violence is to reduce and eventually remove agency. Victims are survivors of a process that erodes their sense of self, stifles their liberty and obstructs access to rights.