Stephen F. Austin

Power, Emancipation and the Administrative State

Until recently, critical theorists have conceived of power in terms of domination. Public bureaucracies were thought to play a central role in domination as they mediated on behalf of dominant interests both by embodying and enforcing the dominant ideology, and by reinforcing society-wide practices of domination. Habermas, however, has suggested that one particular form of power, “communicative power,” might be emancipatory rather than domineering in nature and that the domineering practices of public institutions might be set aright through its proper expression and exercise. This paper argues that power as first conceptualized in Veblens evolutionary critical theory and as further explicated by Foucault, is of a still more intricate and subtle nature than suggested by Habermas. Further, it argues that as a consequence public agencies have both less potential for mediating domination and more potential for advancing emancipation than critical theorists originally thought.

A Critical Analysis of Emergency Management

This article examines the underlying assumptions, imagery, and ideology of the discourse on emergency management that emerged among politicians, the media, and political appointees following Hurricane Katrina. The purpose is to investigate the extent to which they constituted an effective framework for thinking through, talking about, evaluating, and engaging with emergencies. It is our intent to systematically reveal the underlying assumptions, goals, values, and beliefs embedded in this particular discourse with a view toward understanding how this discourse delimited and shaped our understanding and expectations of emergency management by government agencies.