There were a few quotes in “Game-Playing: Rethinking Power and Empowerment” that stood out to me. The first is from page 10, “Empowerment… is a force exerted by an individual or group as a capacity to produce change and an affecting and transforming power but not a controlling power.” This concept stood out to me because the idea of empowerment in this context is presenting an idea to an individual or group so they can be influenced by it, take the idea, and continue to run with it. This is how change happens, slowly, through ideas.

I also appreciated the idea of “power with” which was defined on pages 11 through 12 as, “The capacity to achieve with others what one could not do alone.” This isn’t a new concept; anyone that has ever played organized sports has heard a coach say “the team is greater than the individual.” What makes this idea novel is the idea of teamwork as power, creating “power with” through the interaction of the team.

On page 13, the idea of power as it relates to established business started to take shape. Up until this point, I wasn’t quite seeing the connection to Fair Trade, “Power is never the property of an individual; it belongs to a group and it remains in existence so long as the group stays together.” People are quick to say, “that’s how we’ve always done X” but change is possible once people realize that the established modes of business, or operation in general, are changeable – the people doing the work have the power to, as a group, say no or disband or change the established mode of working. If enough people get behind an idea, the people making decisions are no longer in control.

This relates to Fair Trade in many ways. First, we all know we vote with our wallet. If enough people demand change at the consumer level, the power shifts to the consumer and businesses have to react. In business, if the analysts and managers doing the day-to-day work band together, they may be able to suggest and implement improvements (for example, related to sourcing materials).

After reading Game-playing: rethinking power and empowerment, my definition of power was changed. I used to think of power as having authority over another person, but there were many numerous ways of defining power in this chapter such as hidden power and invisible power. It also helped redefine “empowerment” as a capacity to produce change. It seems less of a control factor, and more of a positive twist on power. An interesting point is made when the chapter describes “constraints- values, norms, rule, and so on- are universal and in place for a long time, they tend to go unnoticed, leading to the durability of tradition.” This is something overlooked in my own life, and brings a perspective to actually thinking about the accepted norms in life.

‘Power with’ connotes a cooperative relationship in which individuals work together to multiply individual talents and knowledge. This provides the counter-argument to power in which people believe one with power is meant to dominate. The chapter provides insights into the norms and challenges of power and entrepreneurs. It is the insight into what sustains power over a period of time, which is collective action. When thinking of power, one usually associate one side having power but collective talents and knowledge allow power to have a positive connotation.

This article also presented a different way of viewing entrepreneurs for me. Most think of an entrepreneur as an innovator of products for the purpose of profit. However, Schumpeter’s changes this definition by defining an entrepreneur as “innovating not for profit-maximization reasons but rather for the specific purpose of transforming the normative basis of market structures.” This strays away from that norm or value and recognizing where changes need to be made unlike the durability of tradition. This is the evolution of the ‘game-player’ that is described as a creative and visionary individual.

The connection this has to fair trade shows the defiance and game-changing capacity of entrepreneurs that want to change the usual norms. It is about applying ‘power with’ and ‘power beyond’ with other people and not one person. Entrepreneurs who tend to innovate for the sake of changing old habits cannot create it through existing constraints. Entrepreneurs in fair trade changed the way business is conducted, not for a profit, but for human life and value. This chapter makes it easier to see the connection of fair trade and entrepreneurial vision.

In the first chapter of Anna Hutchens book, Changing Big Business, she highlights an important underlying psychological concept that is found in all types of businesses- power. While it is to broad and stereotypical to say that business is all about domination, Hutchinson identifies different types of power starting with the traditional concept of power as an instrument of domination characterized by ‘coercion,’ ‘struggle,’ and ‘force.’ In modern times, a different form of power emerged- empowerment.
I found the structure Hutchens used to be an interesting model to describe power. This chapter reads as a textbook to me, which is why I was able to react to each definition of power she presented and connect it to Fair Trade businesses.
In describing the concept of “power over” which is the power of one to get someone else to do something, I thought the sub-definition of “invisible power” relates closely to our own classes Fair Trade business endeavors. Invisible power is described as one person who is given power because others think of themselves as subordinate. I believe that when there are too many leaders in one room, some choose to take a back seat and let others take over if the other is more passionate about the topic. I believe that each Entrepreneuship and Fair Trade student is a leader in some way. Our topics were chosen because of what we are passionate about and while we do work as a collective group, we are all subtly in control of the subunits of the mission of the overall course.
Continuing in the power over section of the chapter, Hutchens cites Foucault’s thought that power and resistance makes the other possible. He states that first, where there is power there is resistance; and second, power relations refer to how people try to control others thus there is not complete dominance. He then leads into how this relationship can turn into a situation of repression. I can correlate repression as power to the places in the world which are controlled by small groups of dominant people which inflicts pain and limitations on others for profit. This is exactly exemplified in the Dark Side and Chocolate and Blood Coltan.
While the previous paragraphed focused on the power aspect of the relationship, the next definitions Hutchens presents relates to resistance, which is the driver of Fair Trade businesses in my opinion.
Hutchens defines “power to” and “power with.” Here comes the concept of empowerment. The power to do something correlates to the back story behind many Fair Trade businesses. In some examples, products are made by women who want a different life and a less detrimental source of income, such as moving from prostitution to creating beautiful goods and developing a skill. The power with others relates to individuals who formed Fair Trade cooperatives to find success in numbers.
As a final thought to this chapter, her discussion of “Pushing the Empowerment Agenda” gave me a different insight to the true power behind Fair Trade. She writes that entrepreneurship disrupts the typical model of economic power. I believe that entrepreneurship in itself does not disrupt the typical balance; rather I believe that entrepreneurship is just the start of the business cycle. All businesses started somewhere. I do believe however, that the Fair Trade is a different type of entrepreneurship which does not so much disrupt the typical balance of power, but rather places it in the hands of a different person. Entrepreneurs in Fair Trade return the economic power to the person who earns it, the producer.

The part of this reading that stood out to me the most was the section in which Hutchens talked about "power with". She defined this as “The capacity to achieve with others what one could not do alone." and also as "a cooperative relationship in which individuals work together to multiply individual talents and knowledge". Both of these definitions are perfect examples of what we are trying to achieve in our Fair Trade and Entrepreneurship class.

I found this whole section extremely relevant to our course and our experiances so far. The idea of "power with" is present in our own classroom as we all work together to achieve a common goal. Although many of us are working on different projects and as a group we work with people overseas whom we have never met, we are still working towards a common goal. By working together we have the capacity to achieve what none of us could do alone. We are also using each of our individual talents and knowledge to create one group of people that collectively has the knowledge and talents of all of us combined. In addition to this we are also a "power with" group because no one person has "power over" eanyone else. Although we have a professor, from what i've seen so far we are able to make decisions as a group to achieve the best possible results.

Hutchens continues on to talk about the competing view points on humananity which are one, the belief that all humans have a desire to gain power by dominating other people, and two, that humans have the capacity to work cooperatively to gain benefits for all.

I think that this debate on humanity could be argued until the end of time but although it may be a futile argument it is still an important topic to discuss. I personally believe that both view points have some truth in them. I think that humans have a natural tendancy to want to improve their own lives before helping others, however some people actually help others before themselves because they believe helping others is helping themselves. For example we as a class are working together in order to make a positive impact on the world. However, we are also doing it as a class in which we will recieve a grade. If we do a good job we will earn a good grade (a positive benefit for ourselves) so one could argue that our motivations are not entirely selfless. Although this positive benefit may or may not be a factor in our cooperative efforts it doesn't change the fact that we can and our working as a group in a "power with" capacity to achieve a positive benefit for people other than ourselves. So at the end of the day, regardless of our motivations or any inherent human instincts we are still able to work cooperatively and not in a "power over" position.

The reading titled “Game Playing: Rethinking Power and Empowerment” focused on defining empowerment, the association of power with business, and the distinctions between different types of power. Hutchen defines empowerment as “a force exerted by an individual or group as a capacity to produce change and an affecting and transforming power but not a controlling power.” As defined by her, someone who is empowered does not really have absolute control over the wellbeing of another human being. The definition does not leave out the possibility for exploitation, but it does spread some of the controlling power to all of the parties involved.

Hutchen explains the difference between “power with” and “power over” in this chapter. “Power with” is a concept where power is shared amongst the group. The group is empowered and has the ability to produce change, both good and bad. The empowerment lies within the group rather than the individual which yields a communal and democratic system of interaction. Our class follows this system very closely. We all have input into what is going on and what we think should change going forward; however, no single individual has executive control over the other members in the group. In other words, nobody has “power over” another member of the group and an excess of power does not lie with any one person. A good analogy for the “power with” concept is a group of animals moving in a herd in which each member is weak as an individual when confronted by a predator, but as a group the herd is powerful and could scare off predators.

The stereotypical way of looking at business is that a small group of people hold all of the power and use this power to exploit others and cash in huge profits while doing it. However, there has been a more team oriented approach adopted by many firms in recent years which stresses this “power with” approach so that ideas may flow freely within the group dynamic. The adoption of this system allows for a more diverse spectrum of ideas and a better set of solutions when compared to a model in which everyone simply does what the boss thinks is right. There is always a certain degree of “power over” in all facets of business because it is a structural necessity and in some regions of the world this may lead to exploitation and even human rights violations. However, this is not a flaw in the nature of business, but rather in the way business is carried out. These means can be appropriated to adopt this “power with” concept such that the community is included in some of the decision making process and shares in a larger piece of the gains.

This is an interesting read, different from the rest as it provides more of an in-depth look into fair trade and how this notion of power has its effect on it. Ann Hutchen dissects 'Power' and places it in different categories. This power is transformed from dominating entities to individuals through 'power with, 'power to' and 'power within'.

Power is something we have been fighting for, it seems like, for decades and centuries. It has nothing to do with religion; it has nothing to do with land. While those two might be a factor in the reasons why authoritative figures use as an excuse to do what they do, it is all about power. But you ask yourself? Who gives us the power to do anything, better yet who gives others the power to dictate to us how to live our lives? We have given our 'power' (our rights) to those who think they deserve it. To those who thrive over being in control and taking advantage of those whom are powerless.

In businesses, I agree with Adam there are certain degrees of power levels in different types of businesses and for good reasons which are needed. It helps maintain order, it obviously distinguishes between the different chains of command and when used properly can make a business thrive. I agree it is not always fair and sometimes can be exploited and used for domination,especially in regions where the poverty level is higher.

Its evident that power has changed hands over the years and it has gone from the hegemonic of the state to the hegemonic of global corporations. Everywhere you turn you are being bombarded with Trademarks, Branding, Slogans, and Marketing. An effort which billions of dollars are being spent to control what we buy, what we eat, how we live (Power over our minds) at the very core. If corporations can re-evaluate and change their prospective just a little bit, they can make a difference in this world.

I think this Fair Trade movement has given birth to 'New Ideas'. A different outlook on what we all are capable of doing. It is turning the world on its head and giving individuals their God given right back. Self-empowerment, as Anna Hutchens points out is definitely a power within. There are several quotes in the 'Game Playing....' that stand out to me but I like this one: "Power is the probability that one actor within a social relationship will be in a position to carry out his own will despite resistance." But to do so, you have to learn how to play the game or as Ann said be a "Game-player" in order to transform and realize a "Positive Liberty”.

While reading “Game-playing: rethinking power and empowerment”, one of the concepts that stood out to me the most was that of ‘invisible power’. This power is defined on page 7 as, “an acceptance of, or belief in, one’s subordinate position and a denial of the problems and a denial of the problems on faces in one’s environment” The reason I chose this excerpt was simply because as soon as I read this part, a picture of the ‘Blood Coltan’ video came into my line of vision. This part of the reading reflected an exact connection to Fair Trade.

When I thought of the ‘Blood Coltan’ video, I thought of the women who served as a pleasure tool for the militia guarding the Coltan mines. These women were so conditioned that they believed that their place and role in life was for the sole pleasure of these men. They accepted the positions that were forced onto them. Although I’m sure they knew that this practice was inhumane, the denied that much was wrong with that they were being subjected to. This quote made me think about how many women have been subjected to such treatment and accept it because they believe that this is the only way of life offered to them and there is no way out. Many times, trying to find a way out results in death or more brutal rape. This quote opened my eyes to think about so many women who suffer on a daily basis.

Another concept that stood out to me was that of ‘power-with’. Power-with is when power is shared among the people of a group or community. This then empowers the group with the ability to make affective changes, which may produce either good or bad results. This concept shows us that the power resonates with the community rather than one individual running the community. This concept encourages productive communication between the individuals of the group.

This concept is important to me because it makes me think of how easy it would be for every community to follow this rule if they were not placed in such an oppressive position. The women who suffer from oppression have been so brow beaten that they have no hope for change. If every woman bounded together be it wherever they are located, they would be able to achieve this ‘power-with’. As my class has so often said, ‘the woman is the backbone of the community’, therefore that represents the strongest power. If we wanted to truly help the women suffering in countries that are abused because the lack of Fair trade practices, we would try to encourage and instill this sense of power with. We need to band together, whether it be women in non-oppressed areas, so that we may show our fellow women that it is very achievable to take control of their own lives and achieve the power-with.

I found this reading to be beneficial because it discussed the various types and forms of power. The writing claimed these differences were: power over, power with, power to, and power within. Power over was said to be “a process by which a person, organization or group restricts the opinions, abilities and capacities of others through certain mechanisms.” Power with refers to “a process by which individual people, organizations and groups together create capacity in order to bring about certain objectives and processes that are collectively shared and beneficial”. Power to refers to “the performance of an action or actions through which individuals, groups and/or organizations gain new capacities, skills and abilities to trigger change.” Lastly, power within refers to “a unique psychological outlook and set of behaviours embodied in the game-player (an entrepreneur of norms).”

It was very interesting to see power broken down into different categories because it helped me see how it can be beneficial in some forms. This reading made me think about how our society creates structures, which in turn, create power (out of thin air). Power is a mental concept in which people allow be created as long as they agree with the goal. The structures are made to organize and delegate power to achieve something, often a change. Depending on the power exhibited by the ultimate leader, the system is efficient and therefore successful. However, when power is given to someone that is incapable of controlling the power, they fail. Few people are actually capable of managing the concept of good power. That is what makes good leaders so heroic.

It also discussed the difference between the “exercise of power” and power being an instrument of domination, which I typically viewed power as the latter. However, what struck me was when Foucault viewed power as “fundamentally positive or constitutive, whereby power and resistance ‘create conditions of possibility for each other.”

Before this reading, I had always viewed power as a negative thing. I liked seeing how power can be viewed in a positive light as well. Seeing as power is often associated with a person who wants to change something, or some aspect of society/the world, this reading made me realize how the person’s desire for power is often times the reason why power can be viewed negatively. It is the same concept with money. Money can often be viewed as a negative thing. However, it is actually the desire for money that can lead to greed that is actually the toxic element that is more often than not associated with money. Therefore, in terms of power, it is the person who desires power that has the decision of whether to do good with the power.

In Anna Hutchens’ article, “‘Game-Playing’: Rethinking Power and Empowerment,” Hutchens talks about the various ways in which power can be defined. Very too often, when we think of ‘power,’ we automatically assume an individual or group having power over another individual or group. At least for me, this was the case. To me, the word ‘power’ had more of a negative connotation than a positive one.

In business classes today, too often, power is described as being able to get things done effectively, even if it means having to exert ‘power over’ someone, or even if it may not be fair for everyone. In business settings, too often, one uses power to exploit another to achieve an end or a desired result. Too often, people are fighting to have power over another; people are always seeking to have the greatest power over another.

What stood out to me the most in Hutchens’ article is the concept of “power with.” On page 11- 12, Hutchens defines “power with” as “the capacity to achieve with others what one could not do alone.” Hutchens continues on to say that ‘power with’ “connotes a cooperative relationship in which individuals work together to multiply individual talents and knowledge.” To be completely honest, I have never thought of ‘power’ in this sense. While it is true that working together produces results that one could not produce alone, I have failed to see how ‘power’ comes into play in this concept. Hutchens, by attributing a collaborative concept to the term power, reveals an eye opening perception, and allows us to see how power can be described as a term other than domination. We have the power to collaborate with others. We have the power and capacity to work together to achieve something great. By working together (power with), we are able to share and combine ideas and to come up with end results that one could not have possibly produced alone.

Furthermore, Hutchens discusses the term ‘defiance.’ I’ve always thought of defiance as going against the societal norms. Again, up until this point, I have associated the word ‘defiance’ with a negative connotation, since to me, ‘defiance’ meant breaking the rules and order accepted by the majority.

Hutchens, brings new light to the word ‘defiance’ by defining it as “an attitude or behavior that social actors adopt when in a conscious process of questioning or rejecting ‘the path laid out for them by an authority’.” From this, ‘defiance’ can describe an individual advocating change for the better. While we are instructed from early on to follow societal rules, or any other rules for that matter, sometimes, we need to advocate change, and to ‘defy’ these said rules, if that will lead to a greater benefit for all. This ties into the principle of Fair Trade, in that we, as consumers, should be conscious of what we buy and support.

In "‘Game-Playing’: Rethinking Power and Empowerment,”, I really appreciated how the author elaborates on the different kinds of power that can be expressed over individuals or groups of people. These types of powers differ from the traditional notion of “power-over,” and are not brought to light as much but pose huge problems. These include hidden power, and invisible power, which are so important in analyzing the reason that certain constructs are in place and why people continue to accept and follow them.

When thinking about fair trade, hidden and invisible power become especially relevant, because often the people who are exploited are not aware of the extent that they are being used, or the profits that others are making from their labor. In other cases, people have accepted that this is the system of living that they are born into because of the power structures in their society, and have little belief that their economic and social status could change. The “invisible” power is a way of life, and as the author states, people even begin to imitate it in their own lives although it is clearly detrimental, through what Gramsci calls hegemony, or the “individual internalization of ruling ideas.” To me, this seems like such a problem, because although the people themselves are oppressed, they unknowingly end up perpetuating those same ideas in their own relationships on an individual scale.

A concept from the reading that I really liked was “power with,” because it gives the idea of power a positive spin, helps us more from associating power with oppression to thinking of it in the context of empowerment.

Furthermore, I think that it is exactly what we are trying to do in our class and with Amani. The power of the whole proves to be greater than the power a single person holds, and only when we work together can we expect to make a greater difference. If just one person was trying to run and sell from the cart, then there would be no way that we could raise as much money and awareness of fair trade. “Power with” shows us that in order to really be successful, we must be willing to share and work together in order to spread the word about fair trade.

This chapter, "Game-Playing: rethinking Power and Empowerment" allowed us to broaden our ideas about power. What I liked most about this reading is that it allowed me to think about the relationship between fair trade and power.

I think power is definitely an interesting topic because it can be positive and negative, and we see it in everyday life.

The negative side of power, in this reading, was referred to as 'power over' or domination, defined as "the power of an institution, group, or individual to carry out their will despite resistance, or to get others to act against their own will." Another view of power that the article stated is "a liberal view that human beings will seek to dominate, out compete, or annihilate others to maximize their own personal gain." I think there are definitely parts of this kind of power in the business world, where the main goal is to make it to the top and make sacrifices, like the success of others, for your personal gain.

The positive types of power were referred to as 'power with', 'power to', and 'power within'. 'Power with' is the power to achieve something with others that one could not do alone. 'Power to' is the power to do something whether or not you are in a group. 'Power within' is self-empowerment. I think that all of these types of power definitely need to be combined in order for Fair Trade to succeed and be carried out.

I also took note of and liked Gaventa's Idea, which was "the synergy which can emerge through partnerships." The 'power with' idea reminds me of much of what we are doing in our class with our different projects.

Reading “Game Playing: Rethinking Power and Empowerment” gave me new insight into power and the different types. I never thought about power in great detail, and that there are different types of power. All of the different kinds apply to the different players in fair trade. For example, “Power over” makes me think of the cocoa farmers from Ivory Coast from the “Dark Side of Chocolate” documentary. These people exert their power and exploit others despite resistance from the young children and from protective groups trying to free children. These people force the children to work in harsh conditions against their will.

“Power with” and “Power to” represent the groups who want to promote fair trade and fight illegal and immoral labor practices and societal injustices. “Power with” can arguably be the most influential type of power, because a group is getting together to empower others and work to make a difference. There is great power in numbers. It is near impossible for one individual alone to accomplish greatness in fair trade. “Power within” relates to “power with”, because often one person sees a problem or societal injustice that he or she wants to make a stop to. He or she then raises awareness and finds others to support and help with the cause. “Power within” can lead to broad social change, and in my opinion is the most extraordinary type of power. To create change, one person has to become the leader and get others to rally around and make progress.

The article speaks about “defiance”. I believe fair trade entrepreneurs defy pre-existing norms in cultures and societies, and they use their creativity and resources to change things. The types of power I learned about in the article helped me understand better how entrepreneurship is so important for fair trade.

"Game-Playing: Rethinking Power and Empowerment," is an in depth analysis of the origins of the fair trade movement, through the different categories of power. The writer makes a clear distinction between resistance and game-playing, elaborating with the latter as it manifests defiance in a form that brings about radical change. This change develops new structures in the transnational level.
The writer seeks to elaborate on two assumptions: the inevitability of resistance whenever there is power, and the failed attempts of sole individuals to conduct and determine the behavior of others to solidify complete domination. In actuality, as delineated through an electricity circuit motif, power is described in five ways: power over, power with, power to, power within, and power beyond.
It is interesting to see the clear distinction between resistors and game-players. Yet each is interconnected to bring about a social and cultural change to the structure. Resisters institutionalize alternative models into these capitalist institutions rather than seek to transform the institution. Defiance is merely a rational, response that any individual is capable of doing. We can easily resist a fair trade chocolate, and this will spur awareness and consequently others to makes the same decisions, but it is also equally, important for game-players to change the institutions in its entirety. And it can't just be one small group of people. Defiance groups must be through a collective action, constitute inter-connectivity through the dispersion of mini pockets of power to create new circuits of power at the transnational level.
All to many times the arguments of resistance groups are swallowed up buy the regulatory orders of our government. It almost reminds me of growing up.. as everything seems in shades of pink for us now, and we can resist against certain social injustices, but come graduation, and we succumb to the many troubles of "the real world," I hope we will not give into the system. Resistance is conservative action, but if we collectively surge a game-playing movement, via tools of "power-within," "power with," "power to," and "power beyond," we can create a dramatic institutional impact in the structure and agency.
It is interesting to understand the concept of power as delineated by Arendt. When someone is in power.. he is empowered by a certain number of people to act in the collective groups name, but if the group begins to disappear, that person's power vanquishes. This reminds me so much of politics in today's government, such a polarized dilemma, that is seen in the light of the stubbornness of the parties. It makes me upset to see that our country is so focused on this debt ceiling, and unable to adopt a somewhat post-liberal, social viewpoint, that if, as Obama stated, "if a kitchen is renovated, and you don't like the cabinets, would you demolish the whole kitchen?" The renovation, can imply the tiny changes to the structure of our country, and the constant backlashes against it.
Fair Trade can be a perfect example of making awareness of a renovation that will be durable, and long lasting. The globalization of our economy creates a need for interdependence on other countries. Collective action, and a genuine interest, our of compassion for other country's social and economic problems might just be the key to peace and stability today!

Anna Hutchens’s article, “Game-Playing: Rethinking Power and Empowerment” provided an interesting perspective of how different forms of power have dictated social norms within the business world and everyday social interactions. After breaking down the different forms of power, Hutchens spoke about the emergence of defiant entrepreneurs who are breaking down the barriers previously established by how business has always been conducted to delve into new ways of empowering workers through unique business models.

It was very interesting to read about how power is immediately established in a relationship as a form of dominance over other people, referring to “power over”. I was also intrigued by the alternative forms of power in existence, such as “power with”, “power to”, and “power within”.

Before reading this article, if I was asked to define power would have said the ability to make other people do things. While I never considered it ethical to make other people do things for you, I sill considered power to have a positive connotation and I never really questioned how that could be. This article really opened my eyes to the concept that I have always been aware of, which is that true power involves empowering your teammates to create the strongest team possible, which will result in the most efficient means of accomplishing a task. I think it is imperative to conceptualize this idea from a business standpoint, to really grasp the idea that a strong business model should not consist of highly educated, well-compensated executives running the business from the top, with little input from the employees at the bottom who are physically running the business from day-to-day. To run an efficient business, rather than vesting the high-up executives with the power to dominate the workers, everyone involved in the running of the company should have communication with each other to run the business as efficiently as possible by incorporating the opinions of people looking at the company from different perspectives.

I was also very interested in the section titled “Defiance Groups: Social Connections for Collective Agency,” which spoke about ending social injustice by challenging the status quo. One quote from this section that is very relevant to fair trade is “Game-players have a worldview that sees the potential for power as residing in social connections between otherwise disconnected states…Young suggests that structural injustice persists because of an absence of questioning of the status quo.”

I believe that these two sentences perfectly sum up why fair trade companies have been so successful so far and why they have so much potential for success in the future. Without the option of buying fair trade goods, people went to the store and bought what they needed with little thought given to where the items came from or whether they were comfortable with supporting the company from which they were making a purchase. Basically, people fell in line with the status quo. However, when “game-players” like fair trade companies came in and found a new means of connecting the suppliers in third world countries with the buyers in developed countries, bypassing large, corrupt corporations, the workers became empowered to work towards a tangible goal of creating a better life for themselves.

I found the points made in "Game-playing: rethinking power and empowerment" had some really interesting points. As readers, we took a look at how power affects both society and the individual person. I think that the article had some great insight as to what power is, how it can limit us, and how it can empower us.

The author touched base on the negative affects of power, "power over". The author states that "power over implicitly suggests a finite resource in which the more power one person has, the less the other has" (7). I think that this is a great point as to how people use these line of reasoning to diminish their sense of empowerment. If we use this line of thinking and assume the position of lesser power in our everyday lives, then our sense of individual empowerment will soon be gone.

A second point that I found to be really interesting was the section where the author talked about was the "power with", "power to", and "power within" concept. I think this highlights all the positive and successful aspects that power can have. As students of entrepreneurship and fair trade, I think we can apply this kind of mentality of empowerment to our everyday lives, classwork, and projects. Knowing that we can make a difference with the power we have is crucial to success and living out the principles that we learn in fair trade.

‘Game-Playing: Rethinking Power and Empowerment’ has definitely changed my outlook on the nature of how people in current markets can view the role of power in their societies. I am particularly interested in the way that Anna Hutchens divides the various ways that power can be perceived and distributed.

In one sense, I understood how her first form of power (‘Power over’) has become the most prevalent of the four discussed species of power, even though it was a bit disheartening. This one type of power has unfortunately become the main definition of the concept - in the traditional sense, the more standing one person has over another, the more ‘power’ that person has. In this sense, power works mainly as a pyramid, when it doesn’t have to always go that way.

I appreciated that Hutchens admitted that power can take more constructive forms, such as ‘power with,’ ‘power to,’ or ‘power within.’ These types of power allow communities to rise up and truly prosper as opposed to when some members of various communities have to unnecessarily suffer for the unbridled benefit of other members of the same community. As the community grows in strength, everyone profits - not just a select amount of people at the top.

The more I thought about this article, the more it helped me realize why our class is structured as it is. At several points in time, it has been repeated that this class has not been about ‘hierarchy’ and that we all have opportunities to speak our minds on a wide variety of points throughout our time together. As such, I feel that through such a non-typical approach, we have become stronger as a class, both in learning and in our relationships with one another. Not to be a complete sycophant, but this article has made me realize why our non-orthodox class model really works. And I’m definitely a fan.

“Game Playing: Rethinking Power and Empowerment” is mainly about, you guessed it, the concepts of power. It was quite an interesting read and it definitely had a lot of material on how power plays a role in today’s world and how we might change it.

First I’d like to point out a quote that I liked that described what power is: “A has power over B to the extent that A can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do.” I like this quote out of all the other quotes, since it was the most simple definition of power. This definition can be applied to many corporations today, even the jobs we simply work at now incorporate this idea of power. Also wherever there is power there is resistance. We can kind of think of the resistance as those who try to expose the exploitation of certain companies; people who don’t agree with what the person in power is doing.

I also like the concepts of different types of powers to apply in this whole idea of Game Playing. There are 3 other types of power: Power with, power to, and power within. Power with is the concept of asking for others for help. Power to is to empower others along with yourself. Power within manifests as a form of internal strength. Using these three concepts people are able to create defiance, a psychology of defying social structures and institutional constraints. Defiance really plays an essential role when it comes to reforming social structures, whether we trying to “win over” those in power.

Also I would like the point out in the end of the article that they say it is not about “winning over” those in power of the traditional power circuits, but rather utilising these traditional powers in a way that can make a change.

I found the article, “‘Game-Playing’: Rethinking Power and Empowerment” interesting and thought provoking. I had never intricately thought of the idea of power before. When I thought of power, I probably thought mainly of world leaders, dictators, CEO’s of fortune 500 companies... people who could probably get another person or group to do something against their will. I mainly thought of the “power over,” focused on businesses and individuals both good and bad, but in the area of Fair Trade... mainly individuals influencing ways of profit making leading to the human trafficking as seen in “Dark Side of Chocolate,” and the violence and death as seen in, “Blood Coltan.” The idea of “Power over” certainly is not empowering in the least when so many suffer due to it.

What I did find empowering, however, is the ideas of “Power with” and “Power to.” I involve myself in different “empowering” activities like community service, female empowerment organizations, and fair trade involvement, to name a few. I 100% agree with this article that you need to first be a part of a group of individuals, to start a movement and that is what will help change things that seem sturdy in our world. As humans, we like things to be set in place... until we are made unhappy, and individuals start movements that destroy the notions previously set in stone, and set new ones.

The way in which Anne Hutchens broke up our modern idea of defiance into two sections, resistance and game playing, is a completely new way of looking at it, to me. I found myself completely agreeing with her points and truly understanding where she is coming from. I saw her descriptions of resistance as groups like Unions, who form groups and take actions to resist the oppressive nature of whatever organization they are involved in. Yes, they will form new ideas and from time to time change things within the organizations: like better pay, better conditions... etc. Unions and resisters are necessary for the employees or whomever to have a voice, but I like Hutchens’s view of Game-Playing, even more. Game-players truly change the game. They offer a completely different point of view or creative innovation that shocks the organization, corporation, or world. I often read in the newspapers or online about the introduction of new game-players to whatever section, but never truly understood what was so incredible about what these people and organizations were doing. Game-players just refuse to play within the rules of the game... and in doing so, change the playing fields and the game completely. What I found even more interesting, was the part that tied game-playing and resistance together, to form the idea of “New Power.” This idea is that many different people must hook up and connect from different social circuits to form and expand new circuitries of power. Basically, the amount of power formed is directly proportional to the number of factors enrolled in the composition. The game-players first change the game, and then resistance members are the bodies and numbers to fully implement whatever change is needed.

I enjoyed how Hutchens tied the idea of power into Fair Trade. This article perhaps surprisingly, perhaps not surprisingly, empowered me to continue to learn more about Fair Trade and continue working on what I’m involved with in the class to help those that need it. I wonder if we can be the game changers. I find myself at the very basic position, doing what I can, but not necessarily changing the game. This article has pushed me into wondering what I can take from the next four years at Fordham, and apply to the world. Maybe I can be the Fair Trade game-changer... or maybe we can all be?

This week's reading titled "Game-playing: Rethinking Power and Empowerment" by Anne Hutchen's was a very thought provoking reading that not only explained different types of power, but also reminded me of the many videos and readings we have talked about in class during the course of the semester. Hutchen's explained throughout the article that there were positive types of power as well as negative types, which remain relevant when discussing the topic of Fair Trade.

The positive types of power we were asked to read about are known as "power with" and "power to". The first positive power is known as "power with", which is described as power to achieve something with others that one could not do alone. The second positive power is "power to", which is described as the power to do something whether or not you are in a group. Both of these powers are great examples of why fair trade is becoming a success with the initiatives brought out by "power to" one can can spread the awareness of fair trade and inspire others to utilize "power with" among their friends,classmates, and colleagues in order continue the fight against poor and selfish business practices that are still going on in the world today.

Another point explained in the Hutchen's excerpt was the notion of the negative power within our society known as "power over". This deficient power is defined as the power of a group/institution or individual to carry out their will despite the resistance. This ultimately means "power over" is aimed at getting people to act against their own will. Unfortunately, people in our society like to use this power to get their way, eventually corrupting the innocent. At certain moments I am sure all of us have felt taken advantage of at one point or another, but fair trade supporters want to make known of this exploitation.

With the understanding of these different powers, I hope our class can come together and spread the idea of fair trade amongst our friends to make them a little more socially conscious and improve a life one day at a time.