Power Reproduction: An Explanatory Framework for How a Network Struggle is Possible

Abstract

Power, as an integral part of all social life, cannot be avoided in social struggles. Examining the power relations network among participants in social struggles and elucidating the strategies of power operation can provide a more comprehensive and integrated explanation for the occurrence of social struggles. This article, based on a power-centered explanatory model, further interprets the logic of online struggle phenomena from the perspective of power reproduction. It attempts to explain the specific process of generating counter-dominant power through a three-dimensional analytical framework composed of "space-resource-power," which includes spatial occupation, resource integration, and power production. The study finds that the logic of power reproduction in online struggles involves several stages: first, occupying the public discourse space of network platforms to shift the interactive venue with the power of the struggle object from the real field to cyberspace, thereby constructing a platform for power reproduction; second, accumulating various resources through strategies such as shaping identity structures and leveraging media attention, forming a strong relational network, and gaining powerful influence through relational empowerment; finally, under the combined effects of space and resources, the participants transform their disadvantaged positions, acquire counter-dominant power to resist oppression, and ultimately succeed in the struggle. This path demonstrates that power is crucial in struggles, functioning through resource mobilization, and that resources are closely related to the field of power interaction.