权力源自资源掌控吗?——以东汉政治斗争史为参照系

Does Power Derive from the Control of Resources?:A Survey of the Political History of Eastern Han Dynasty

“权力”因为与“硬性强制力”之间的天然语义关联,一向被主流社会心理学家视为各种软性力量的对立面。由于硬性强制力又一直被理解为对于资源的控制力,所以权力也一向被视为资源控制状态的衍生物。但英国社会心理学家特纳的权力模型则帮助我们看到了上述软性力量对于此类硬性力量的奠基作用,以及资源控制机制自身对于上述软性理想的依赖性。特纳理论模型背后的哲学理由则是这样的:人类乃是一种具有情感与理性的动物,而人类的暴力能力本身又在特别的情感与理性理由的支配之下。因此,若脱离人类的共情力与理性理解力去抽象地讨论暴力的强迫机制,就无异于将人贬低为没有内部心灵生活的纯粹机器。不过,特纳对于人性的哲学素描却忽略了另外一个问题:由于人脑的先天生理与心理机制的局限性,人类很容易被外界的信息所操控,并因此成为信息操控者的工具。由于信息资源本身也是一种资源,而信息控制力也算是一种硬实力,所以,传统的基于资源控制的权力观至少在信息控制这一维度上还是有其合理性的。因此,有必要提出一种能兼容经典权力观与特纳的新权力观之特征的混合式权力观。由于这种新权力模型对于说明权力架构的动力学特征具有解释上的优势,充满嬗变的中国东汉政治斗争史可以为上述模型的普遍适用性提供相关的检测性材料。

Due to the semantic relevance between“power”and“coercion”,“power”has long been viewed as the opposite item of varieties of soft powers from the lens of mainstream social psychology.Since coercive powers are typically aimed at the control of resources,the control of resources has also long been viewed as the root of pow⁃er.However,in his challenge of the standard model of power,John Charles Turner highlights the soft powers un⁃derpinning coercive powers,which in turns result in the control of resources.The philosophical insights imbedded in Turner’s narrative could be unpacked as the follows:as animals equipped with emotions and rationality,human being’s coercive behaviors cannot be delivered without being subject to certain emotions and reasons.Hence,if a resource⁃controlling narrative is free from any factors involving emotions and rationality,it could only misleadingly depict human minds as soulless machines.Nonetheless,Turner’s theory is still defective in the sense that he fails to highlight a specific form of coercive force aimed at a specific type of resources:the control of information.Hence,it is necessary to elaborate a new theory of power embracing the features both of the standard model and Turner’s new model.Since this hybrid theory is supposed to be able to account for the dynamic features of a politi⁃cal system,the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty,which is full of unexpected political changes,would be a per⁃fect touchstone for the applicability of this theory.