The Role of Social Representations in the Construction of Power Relations

The conceptualizations of power, traditionally associated with control, have been nuanced in the past decades by influential authors such as Michel Foucault, Hannah Arendt and Pierre Bourdieu. These authors offer a perspective on power focused on the agency of individuals, with an emphasis on the way the dynamics and relations of power operate. Relying on these conceptual frameworks, we argue that the theory of social representations is of particular relevance to an analysis of the construction of power relations, whether it be to criticize the effects of domination or examine those of emancipation. The results of our research on the social representations of depression illustrate the latter’s role in the construction, continuity and transformation of the power dynamics at play in the area of access to healthcare services by people who have experienced a depressive episode.