This is a transcript of a paper presented to the 24th Annual EDRA Conference in Chicago on March 31st, 1993. It traces the history of the philosophy of power from ancient times down to the present, noting in the process the different forms that power has taken in myriad cultural settings. It interrogates the shift in conceptions of power with the introduction of patriarchy, and charts the effect this has had on our conceptions of design - looking specifically at a postmodern conception of power in a time of Late Capitalism. This analysis is set against a background of traditional indigenous conceptions of power that have much to offer in our troubled world.