Foucault challenges
the idea that power is wielded by people or groups by way of ‘episodic’
or ‘sovereign’ acts of domination or coercion, seeing it instead as dispersed and pervasive. ‘Power is everywhere’ and ‘comes from everywhere’ so in this sense is neither an agency nor a structure (Foucault 1998: 63).
What are the two main types of power according to Foucault?
- Sovereign power.
- Disciplinary power.
- Pastoral power.
- Bio-power.
What is Foucault’s theory?
Foucault’s theories primarily
address the relationship between power and knowledge
, and how they are used as a form of social control through societal institutions. … Foucault subsequently published The Archaeology of Knowledge (1969).
How does Foucault understand power?
According to Foucault’s understanding,
power is based on knowledge and makes use of knowledge
; on the other hand, power reproduces knowledge by shaping it in accordance with its anonymous intentions. Power (re-) creates its own fields of exercise through knowledge.
What are Foucault’s views on discourse and power?
Power, in Weedon’s (1987) interpretation of Foucault is:
a dynamic of control and lack of control between discourses and the subjects
, constituted by discourses, who are their agents. Power is exercised within discourses in the ways in which they constitute and govern individual subjects (p. 113).
What is power theory?
power. The standard theory is that
power is the capacity for influence and that influence is based on the
.
control of resources
valued or desired by others.
Who is the father of post structuralism?
Post-structuralism is a late-twentieth-century development in philosophy and literary theory, particularly associated with the work of
Jacques Derrida
and his followers. It originated as a reaction against structuralism, which first emerged in Ferdinand de Saussure’s work on linguistics.
Is Foucault a structuralist?
Michel Foucault (1926–1984) was a French historian and philosopher, associated with
the structuralist and post-structuralist movements
. He has had strong influence not only (or even primarily) in philosophy but also in a wide range of humanistic and social scientific disciplines.
What is repressive power?
The repressive hypothesis is
the argument that power has repressed sex for the past three hundred years
. … According to this hypothesis, we can achieve political liberation and sexual liberation simultaneously if we free ourselves from this repression by talking openly about sex, and enjoying it more frequently.
What is the panopticon effect?
The panopticon is
a disciplinary concept brought to life in the form of a central observation tower placed within a circle of prison cells
. From the tower, a guard can see every cell and inmate but the inmates can’t see into the tower. Prisoners will never know whether or not they are being watched.
Why is Foucault so important?
Michel Foucault was one of the most famous thinkers of the late 20th century, achieving celebrity-like status before his untimely death in 1984. … Foucault
was interested in power and social change
. In particular, he studied how these played out as France shifted from a monarchy to democracy via the French revolution.
What is the link that Foucault draws between knowledge and power?
Foucault’s theory states that
knowledge is power
: Knowledge linked to power, not only assumes the authority of ‘the truth’ but has the power to make itself true. All knowledge, once applied in the real world, has effects, and in that sense at least, ‘becomes true.
What is pastoral power?
Foucault notes four unique characteristics of pastoral power:
it seeks to deliver the individual to salvation
; it is prepared to sacrifice itself for the life of the flock; it is equally concerned for the one as for the many, the part and the whole; it requires knowledge of the conscience, the inside of people’s minds …
Is power a discourse?
The discourse of power is
used when it comes to differentiating the levels of power
due to cultural and social characteristics that come about through societal upbringing. The ways we think and talk about a subject influence and reflect the ways we act in relation to that subject.
What is the relationship between knowledge and power?
Knowledge is not independent of the individuals who hold it ; it is a product of power relationships. According to Lubit (2001), knowledge is the
base of power and respect
; what often lead people to hesitate to share knowledge because they fear a decrease of their power.
What is the relationship between ideology discourse and power?
Abstract—Ideology and power relation are two main concerns in the field of critical discourse analysis (CDA).
The ideology becomes a medium to sustain the power among the society
. Both the ideology and power relation can be expressed through some linguistic forms called systemic functional linguistic (SFL) by Halliday.
