Exploring Spaces of Power: powercube.net
By Dr. Sobia Khan, Director of Implementation
11-min read
Whenever we talk about implementation, we talk about power.
Power differentials play a huge role in who drives implementation, how the work gets done, and whether implementation is equitable. Many people have recently engaged us in conversations about how they feel disempowered or how they might recognize the power of others – so much so that we built a course around some key principles and dimensions of power.
Exploring the different types of closed spaces
There are several ways you could think about power, but I’m going to pause on one simple yet key dimension of power that impacts implementation greatly: the space in which we hold and exert our power. This is particularly important to think about as we embark on inclusive approaches like co-design and equity-oriented implementation initiatives. There are three types of spaces to consider
Closed spaces
Closed spaces are the spaces in which we convene and make decisions with a small number of people. Power here is very noticeably centralized because we’re not letting other people participate in decision-making or other processes of implementation. We are very familiar with this space - think about board members in an organization who are making decisions amongst that small group of people and then communicating those decisions after they’ve already been made. Think about researchers who design and develop specific kinds of programs without consulting the people who are actually embedded in the implementation settings. These are examples of how we close the space to maintain power among the few.
Invited spaces
Invited spaces occur when conveners bring a diversity of people on board to participate in implementation. In an invited space, you are thinking about who is being included and why, what kinds of decisions or implementation processes are occurring in that space, and the type of power people invited to the space hold when they are participating in those processes. An invited space is important when you’re thinking about co-design and equity in implementation because here, we are opening up spaces to involve people who may not have “traditional” forms of power in order to be part of something that we are collectively accomplishing. In an invited space, you might think about how empowered people actually are to participate by using a spectrum of engagement to deconstruct their involvement.
Claimed spaces
Claimed spaces are the ones that people who are typically disempowered will carve out for themselves in order to make the kind of change that they feel needs to be made and to include the people that they feel need to be included, counter to traditional hierarchies and power dynamics in the system. When people claim space, it can either transform into an invited space or closed space – so a claimed space is a dynamic type of space that transforms into something else depending on what people do and what space they have claimed. Claimed spaces tend to happen in communities that are chronically disenfranchised and can lead to important changes in the system by building “momentum on the fringes” or causing social movements. Think about how communities have organized in response to the overdose epidemic or movements like the Black Lives Matter movement.
There are smaller examples of how we claim space in implementation – for example, we at TCI feel that we have gained “momentum at the fringes” for the acceptance of implementation practice by working outside of traditional academic structures and creating a space for this practical work and dialogue to happen.
How spaces of power impact implementation, engagement, and participation
Many things happen in these spaces that result in some sort of outcome in implementation, so it helps to think about the interaction of many dimensions of power and how they play out in a space. Let me give you a concrete example of why it is important to deconstruct spaces of power and what is happening in those spaces of power. I was once part of a community implementation initiative where the city (i.e., the municipal body governing the city) was attempting to share power with other organizations and agencies in the community to plan for implementation. The city was a co-lead of this new collaboration and created an invited space, literally in their own municipal offices as well as figuratively, by inviting a diversity of partners. This sounded great; however other dynamics were at play. At the time, the city was in the process of issuing fines to some of their partner organizations for delivering services on city property that they did not have permits for. These traditional power dynamics (i.e., the hierarchy between the city and other organizations) made the partner organizations feel unwelcome in the literal physical space that was created and originally intended as a collaborative forum, and they stopped attending. The participation of these partners was key because they were the front-line service providers to the vulnerable population in question. So what was the solution? The meetings were moved to a space within an organization that didn’t have traditional hierarchical power in the community. Eventually, the city ceded some of their power in the collaboration. Participation commenced, and relationships started to become mended.
Can you think of how power has impacted your implementation work?
In this bulletin, Jonathan will describe the Power Cube and how to think about different dimensions of power and their interactions.
A Closer Look At: powercube.net
By Dr. Jonathan A. Caballero, Implementation Support Consultant
Power can be analyzed and understood from many angles, such as the “spaces of power” introduced in the previous section.
Understanding power in real scenarios is best achieved by analyzing it from many angles and identifying the relationships between different dimensions of power. powercube.net is a resource that can help you through this process and guide you through the process of selecting strategies and actions to change power relations.
A conceptual framework to understand power
The powercube framework helps you analyze power in terms of its levels, spaces, and forms, as well as their interrelationships. These dimensions are based on a collection of theoretical and empirical approaches.
The spaces of power include closed, invited, and claimed spaces, as elaborated previously in this bulletin issue.
The levels of power refer to vertical layers of decision-making, such as local, national, and global.
The forms of power include visible, hidden, and invisible forms. They roughly refer to structural forms of power (visible power), barriers to participation (hidden power), and an internalized sense of powerlessness (invisible), but their definitions are more nuanced.
These concepts can also be combined to explore the expression of power, referring to how people demonstrate and exercise power, including:
Power over – refers to the most “known” form of power, where a group uses it to dominate others and/or prevent them from gaining power.
Power with – refers to a joint exercise of power for mutual support, solidarity, and collaboration.
Power to – refers to the unique potential of every person to shape their own life and the world around them.
Power within – refers to the sense of self-worth, affirming an intrinsic form of power to recognize one’s ability to act and change the world (often leading to “Power with” and “Power to” expressions).
Practical tools to address power
Beyond providing a conceptual framework, powercube.net provides practical advice and tools on how to select strategies to change power relations and challenge established expressions of power when it is needed.
For example, strategies to change spaces of power details how transparency and public disclosure of information can help to open up closed spaces, describes how skill-building is an important component to support people joining invited spaces and points to resources on how to build power through claimed spaces.
The website includes examples of how the powercube approach has been used in widely different contexts, such as the case study of an Afghan refugee in Japan and the analysis of cooperatives in the UK. Having those examples is highly valuable to orient people interested in using the powercube.
Empowering implementation professionals to understand power
If you are interested to know more about power, powercube.net’s introduction to power analysis is a great place to start, and if you want a deep dive into power and its relation with trust in implementation contexts, Cultivating Trust and Navigating Power may be just right for you!
In this online course, we provide tangible strategies for strengthening relationships which are at the core of all change efforts. We’ll show you how you can work more effectively with others to create change. Enrollment opens Dec. 6!
These articles were featured in our monthly Implementation in Action bulletin! Want to receive our next issue? Subscribe here.