Power at the power house : agency and authority on the Chatsworth Estate, 1811-1877
Power is a central concept in the language of country house studies. Commonly referred to as 'power houses', the primary function of properties such as Chatsworth in Derbyshire is understood as the consolidation and reproduction of aristocratic power. In this narrative of upper-class supremacy, the communities that lived on these estates are conceptually divided in binary terms of upstairs and downstairs, master and servant, landlord and tenant, the powerful and the powerless. This thesis problematises the concept of absolute power on the country estate by drawing on the work of sociologists such as Pierre Boudieu and Anthony Giddens, to ask how power might be approached in more nuanced terms. By defining power as an individual's capacity to effect change, in however small a way, it accesses new perspectives and suggests how fresh relevance can be drawn from archival material. This thesis finds that far from being insular and isolated, Chatsworth was a microcosm of English society in which daily interactions played out across a diverse community. It therefore speaks to wider issues of class and gender tensions, and individual agency within institutional structures in nineteenth-century Britain. This thesis
Butler, Lauren
Power at the power house : agency and authority on the Chatsworth Estate, 1811-1877. Power is a central concept in the language of country house studies. Commonly referred to as 'power houses', the primary function of properties such as Chatsworth in Derbyshire is understood as the consolidation and reproduction of aristocratic power. In this narrative of upper-class supremacy, the communities that lived on these estates are conceptually divided in binary terms of upstairs and downstairs, master and servant, landlord and tenant, the powerful and the powerless. This thesis problematises the concept of absolute power on the country estate by drawing on the work of sociologists such as Pierre Boudieu and Anthony Giddens, to ask how power might be approached in more nuanced terms. By defining power as an individual's capacity to effect change, in however small a way, it accesses new perspectives and suggests how fresh relevance can be drawn from archival material. This thesis finds that far from being insular and isolated, Chatsworth was a microcosm of English society in which daily interactions played out across a diverse community. It therefore speaks to wider issues of class and gender tensions, and individual agency within institutional structures in nineteenth-century Britain. This thesis
power power house agency authority estate power central_concept language country house study commonly_refer power house primary_function property derbyshire understood consolidation reproduction aristocratic power narrative upper_class supremacy community_live estate conceptually divide binary term master servant landlord tenant powerful problematises concept absolute power country estate draw work sociologist ask power might approach nuanced term define power individual capacity effect_change however small way access new_perspective suggest fresh relevance drawn archival_material find far insular isolate microcosm english_society daily interaction play across diverse community therefore speaks wide_issue class_gender tension individual agency_within institutional_structure nineteenth_century_britain