Mobile Power

Abstract

This chapter introduced one of the central concepts of the book – “mobile power” and “remobilising power”. We argue that regimes of power draw their strength from their ability to be adaptable to a range of diverse contexts. More precisely, it must be constantly “remobilised” to flexibly accommodate a wide range of cultural and historical circumstances. This draws on an emerging understanding of power as not simply repressive or productive but instead dynamic and customisable. Yet the argument of this book takes these insights one step further. The contention is that power – encompassing dominant ideologies, practices, and actors – requires and is often at its most potent when it transforms people and places into “host subjects” and “problem-solvers” to innovatively adapt these discourses to their specific situation and context.