Power (according to Foucault)

From Geography

According to Foucault power is everywhere. ‘Relationships of power’ exist everywhere and everyone can execute power. Power has no central place in society from which it radiates. Instead, everyone can execute power everywhere. It’s difficult to point out a general master of principal because the power gets internalized by individuals. Foucault gives the Panopticon (by Bentham) as example to prove this point: in this round prison the prisoners are always watched by the guard, while the prisoners can’t see eachother, they can only see the guard. A power difference exists between the prisoners and the guard. After a while, even when the guard isn’t there, the prisoners always feels like they’re under surveillance. The prisoners internalize the guard and always act as if they are being watched. They eat at times the prison prescibes them, sleep at times the prison prescibes them and wake up at the time the prison prescibes them. The power becomes an invisible structure, which influences the prisoners constantly even when it is not enforced by the guard. Because power is everywhere, one is never free of power. It is enclosed in all relationships. Even so called free will and the ability to choose comes from relations of power, since one had to learn how to choose. Having been influenced by education and by upbringing, people are inclined to make certain choices. Someone who has been taught the merit of education will probably be less inclined to skip lectures than one who has not been taught the merit of education. Power can thus be enabling and disabling. These relations, through which power operates, can both enable and disable people to do certain things.

According to Foucault power isn’t always negative. It also makes things possible and doesn’t always have to work with restrictions and punishment. But Foucault asks himself the question: how can we respond to power is a responsive way?

Exercise of Power (According to Foucault)

Foucault analysed power in the context that it is characterized by the play of relations between individuals (or groups). Power, Foucault argues, is exercised not directly but when power acts upon the individuals or groups actions; therefore action upon action.

Foucault's concept highlights that the "exercise of power can produce as much acceptance as may be wished for." (Foucault, 1982). Meaning that it could have no impact upon some but significant impact upon the actions of others. This demonstrates that power is exercised over free subjects, ie, individuals, groups or institutions who are faced with numerous possibilities in how to behave or act. Foucault gives as an example slavery. Slavery is not a power relationship when a man is in chains. It is a physical relationship of constraints and there is no face to face confrontation of power and freedom which is mutually exclusive.

Example

A Human Geographical example of this is the relationship between European Union and a country like the Netherlands. When countries make a agreement in the European union they have to obey at this agreement. So when they don’t obey they will get a punishment, this gives a European Union power. This isn’t the kind of power according to Foucault. But because countries are afraid for the punishment, they obey to the rules of the European Union even when the European Union isn’t monitoring. This kind of power is the kind of power according to foucault.

References

Foucault, M. (1982). The Subject and Power. In Foucault, M. (1983) Beyond Structuralism and Hermeneutics.

Foucault, M. (1983). Beyond structuralism and hermeneutics. Second edition. Chicago: the university of Chicago Press.

Hall, S. (2001). Foucault: Power, Knowledge and Discours. in Taylor, S., Wetherell, M. & Yates, S.J. (2001). Discourse Theory and Practice. London: Sage publications.

Contributors

Page edited and links added by Aafke Brus --AafkeBrus 18:58, 25 October 2011 (CEST)

Edited by Bert Hegger on October 1st 2012.

Categorized by Jesper Remmen--JesperRemmen 20:55, 21 October 2012 (CEST)

Example edited by Pieter van Luijk