Activity 2: Where is the power in your life?

Before we look more closely at the features of Nazi fascism, we are going to consider the concept of power.

  • Who has power in your life?
  • Who can make you do things?

Look at the list of people and institutions below.  Try to put them in an order so that at the top is the group that has the most power over you. At the bottom put the group that has the least power and all those in between should fit accordingly.

To help you decide, consider these questions for each group:

  • Do they influence your ideas about the world, the way you live your life and your hopes for the future?
  • Do they influence the decisions you make in your life?
  • Do they make you behave in certain ways?

 
Famous people
 
Magistrates
 
Family
 
Schools
 
Religious leaders
 
Politicians
 
Police
 
Friends
 
Judges
 
The local council
 
The Media (newspapers, magazines, tv, radio, internet)
 
The British Government
 
Other (you can include here any other groups which you believe have power in your life but which are not mentioned above.)
 


This exercise should have started you thinking about how power operates in your life.  With your partner or group, talk about how much power you have in your own life.  What say do you have in the way you live, your future and the ways you behave.  Look again at the order you have placed the above groups then decide: 

Where would you put yourself?