While limitation of freedom is often associated with forcible compulsion or restraint, autonomy is also diminished through more subtle pressures. Non-forcible coercive dynamics, such as socialization processes, manipulative persuasion, or brainwashing, result in the unconscious adoption of beliefs inhibiting the ability to choose alternative options. In this thesis, I argue for an interdisciplinary analysis of coercive power and propose a theoretical model that delineates the instrumental psychological and sociological dynamics enabling the development and perpetuation of coercive interpersonal and societal interactions. An interdisciplinary analysis not only illuminates common mechanisms but also underscores the prevalence of coercive processes, yielding an increased awareness of coercion as a pervasive human phenomenon and suggesting a universal susceptibility to coercive pressures. The widespread nature of coercive pressures provides a foundation for speculation that it may be only possible to act more or less autonomously, with autonomy itself an ideal.
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