Michel Foucault Notes on The Subject and Power

2/11/2013

5 Comments

 
Anecdote about power and subject: Airport and husband and wife. Wife in JFK playing tic tac toe in Delta terminal

It is not enough to saythese are anti-authority struggles. We must try to define more precisely what they have in common. Michel Foucault p. 11

Terms

·         objectification

·         Banal facts

·         rationality

·         subject

·         transversal struggles (vs universal) p. 11

·         power effects

·         “immediate” struggles (close to them, nearby, proximal and effect on individuals; immediate enemy vs. chief enemy at elevators in 23 bldg). Immediate in that they want relief in the now not at a future date (no long now here; liberations, revolutions, ends of class struggles, etc.). These are anarchistic struggles

·         anarchistic

opposition to power of men over women

…of whites over blacks

…of parents over children

…of first world over third or second world

…of teachers over students

…of psychiatry over mentally ill

…of medicine over patients or the population

…of administration over the ways people live

…of literate over the non-literate (vs. illiterate)

…of wives over husbands

…of   <Can you add any?>

..of powerful over the oppressed and not free or liberated in a democracy



CONTEXT: This illustration appeared on the cover of the first issue of Goldman's anarchist magazine, Mother Earth. The magazine published writings on anarchism, news of national and international anarchist and labor activities, and poetry and drama criticism.

Excerpts from "Anarchism: What It Really Stands For"
(Anarchism and Other Essays, 1910) by Emma Goldman

"I shall begin with a definition.... Anarchism: The philosophy of a new social order based on liberty unrestricted by man-made law; the theory that all forms of government rest on violence, and are therefore wrong and harmful, as well as unnecessary."

"Anarchism, then, really stands for the liberation of the human mind from the dominion of religion; the liberation of the human body from the dominion of property: liberation from the shackles and restraint of government. Anarchism stands for a social order based on the free grouping of individuals for the purpose of producing real social wealth; an order that will guarantee to every human being free access to the earth and full enjoyment of the necessities of life, according to individual desires, tastes, and inclinations."

"Anarchism... is the great, surging, living truth that is reconstructing the world, and that will usher in the Dawn."

http://ucblibrary3.berkeley.edu/goldman/Curricula/FreeExpression/definition.html
5 Comments
Mamadou Ndoye
2/11/2013 05:29:18 am

Class struggle in a Marxist point of view has always defined history. The exploitation of workers from the boss is a huge case of superiors vs inferior elements. The employee and the employer i think can be added to the list.

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SM
2/12/2013 03:06:02 am

The struggle is everywhere and in everything. It is part of humanity, part of nature, and part of the universe. With people, there is and always will be a struggle as long as the society is layered. As long as there are casts, races, and such there will be struggle in between those layers. Ultimately, and possibly not that far ahead people will have to reorganize the way society is stacked, as we can see how uneven the distribution of power, rights, and wealth is because of this casting.

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Sabrina Ally
2/12/2013 05:42:18 am

As human beings we are going to struggle because that's how the world was designed. Struggling is what makes us stronger and it also makes us appreciate things. We don't like too much authority because not many of us enjoy the feeling of having someone tell us what to do, As discussed in class, sometimes students are afraid to stand up to professor's because they fear that standing up to their professor will interfere with their grade. So we don't say anything, but this is how we were taught. You have to respect those who are in authority although we may not want to sometimes.

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Silviya Lukanova
2/18/2013 02:28:25 am

Some of the things that caught my attention were how well Foucault brings attention to how we tend to rationalize the power relationships and how the educational system is positioned to have control over the access of knowledge – limited to what and how it is taught.
Rationality is a type of coping mechanism that only “helps” if it is used to explain and make acceptable a present problem like power and subject relations. I agree that it limits us and at the same time leads to subjection and submission of subjectivity. “There are no facts separate from the interpretations”
Knowledge, or information, is bound together with power and where you find one you will find the other. Structure and time within the way we learn function and lead to power relations and there are many powers that come into play – experience, background, time frame, position within the educational system (student vs. professor/teacher.)

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Monzurul Haque
2/20/2013 04:31:42 am

I think that its interesting that there might be some people that consider themselves anarchists, and then others that don't intend to bring anarchy, but are still considered anarchists as labelled by others.

For example, during the American Revolution, I don't think the revolters considered themselves anarchists, nor did they intend to bring upon anarchy. They wanted what they perceived as "proper rule". Yet this, according to a certain perspective would be considered anarchy.

Pretty much every rebellion or revolution involves anarchy according to one perspective.

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