Progressive intellectuals were at the heart of the protest movements of 1968 in Italy, France and Germany. The question of power was paramount. Secondly, power is not one single power. It is not massive. It is not a unidirectional process between one entity that commands and its subjects.
Power is multiple and ubiquitous.
It is a network of consensuses that depart from below. Power is a plurality. Power is the multiplicity of relationships of strength. For the semiologist, language is always closely linked to power. Eco's theory is that the criticism of power has degenerated because that criticism has become massive.