Foucault

I want you to answer two questions in today's blog. As usual, I want your answers in your own words.

1) How does Foucault's conception of the subject differ from the theories we've studied so far?

2) Why did Foucault coin the term "power/knowledge" and what does he mean by it?

Due before class on Wednesday, 4/9.


Again this blog is difficult to write as i can't help but engulf myself in the ideas presented throughout the CWA. The panel i just came from though politically driven was incredible. Even the one discussing if we are hardwired to believe was incredible. But i must now focus on foucault and the self.

Foucault's perception of the self is unique in that selfhood is only attained through the use of language and power. The self is defined in terms of power relations. Discourse is the method through which these relations emerge. He sees power as an attempt to organize human populations. Through the organization of people a structured system of power is brought to the forefront. Subjectivity is then defined based on where people fall within these structures.

Foucault also felt that the subject was not naturally occurring but existed in terms of knowledge and power. He felt these two ideas were inseparable and combined the words. By combining the words together he made the argument that one cannot exist independently of the other. Foucault used prisons as an example of this power relation. (The explanation of this by mansfield is terribly simplified and unclear. In the actual Panopticism article a much better understanding can be achieved, just my thought.) Foucault argues that prisons are not a fringe element of society but are an essential element in the organization of our self. The public processes of imprisonment make them a highly visible part of society and of the public discourse. As already identified discourse is a tool of power and thus the prisons are one way with which subjectivity is managed. It is almost as if the Aristotelean idea that we are what we repeatedly do is clarified through this system. Those who frequent the prison are prisoners, those who engage in the civil discourse and trials are citizens and one is identified by what it is not. The power the prison holds over the individual is greater than the powers controlling the citizens, and so the systems of power also play a role in the definition of ones selfhood.