Here we give a short description of what we understand by power.
- Power is relational. (cf Foucault html 
-> Power "rather it designated the way in which the conduct of individuals or of groups might be directed.")
- Power is will or volition to enact x or y.
- Power is sovereignty of interpretation and meaning-making.
# Power in the Commons: the horizon
- derives from freedom to ... self-organize, control means of production, be structurally independent from Market-State; - derives from knowledge and knowing how to common; - derives from a sense and security of belonging (web of life and web of relationships).
„Power must be analyzed as something which circulates, or as something which only functions in the form of a chain . . . Power is employed and exercised through a netlike organization . . . Individuals are the vehicles of power, not its points of application”. (Foucault, Michel (1980), Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972–1977, London: Harvester Press, p. 98. Dt: "Die Macht übt sich als Netz aus."!
Earl Shorris offers many insightful aphorisms into the nature of power. A few of them:
There are no draws in the games of power. The surface of power is polished stone. Power always has something of greater importance. When a powerful man asks for something, he is always brought something superior: an urn for a cup, a couch for a chair. The powerful know that complexity is the province of underlings. Power is not in making; it is in having. There is no power in a small room. After he gained power, what had been seen as eccentricity appeared as wisdom. A formula for power: Power equals the weakness of others times their number. One loses the sense of power over others. To feel power it must be constantly increased. Power sits at another table. A powerful person may choose to send another in his place. The acceptability of the substitute depends upon the power of the one who sent him.
# Sources