Great Circle

According to the mighty Wikipedia, “Dependency theory is the body of social science theories by various intellectuals, both from the Third World and the First World, that create a worldview which suggests that the wealthy nations of the world need a peripheral group of poorer states in order to remain wealthy.”

Fascinating? Mmm. Probably not…

But … I recently read a short precis from a sociology course that applied dependency theory to human relationships – and it’s pushed some buttons for me. It explains some of the dynamics in relationships where Party A has power over Party B … and some ideas about how Party B might escape from this situation of control and disempowerment.

The basic ideas are these (and I’ll blog about them further later):

• Power is the ability to make others do things they wouldn’t otherwise want to do.
• The basis of power is dependency. Person B depends on Person A if B has goals and needs that A can fulfill. Person A controls Person B’s access to the “commodity” they need, therefore controlling B’s behaviour/resources.
• B’s dependency on A is related to both supply and demand.
• In this case, demand refers to how much B needs what A controls. (This could be validation, oil, affirmation, salary, “love”, a promotion or even a “connection to God!”)
• Supply refers to the availability, quality and cost of alternative means of satisfying those needs that are in demand. In other words, how easy/difficult it is for B to go elsewhere and gain the “commodity” A controls.
• Confused? Read the points again slowly.

I’ll turn these into practical applications soon I promise! (Taking my son to tennis now!)