THE ESSENTIAL MICHEL FOUCAULT: POWER/KNOWLEDGE AND ITS IMPACT UPON CONTEMPORARY ORGANIZATIONAL DISCOURSE 2016 (original) (raw)
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Michel Foucault’s relationship between power and knowledge.
This essay analyses Foucault's revolutionary thought on power and knowledge, and their relationship in society. It first ascertains what Foucault means by 'power', i.e. its un-objectivity as 'force relations', to then uncover power's intrinsic relationship with knowledge, or rather 'systems of knowledge' in the form of discourse. Due to Foucault's very atypical, unconventional view on society, and power itself, this essay first ascertains what Foucault does not mean by 'power', as a means of separating any personal preconception the reader may have with Foucault's vision.
This term paper discusses Michel Foucault major works as follows; Power/knowledge, the Birth of Clinic, Discipline and Punish and the Order of Things. In the mentioned writings Michel Foucault believed in the freedom of people. He also realized that as individuals, we react to situations in different ways. He used his books as a vehicle to show the various factors that interact and collide in his analysis of change and its effects. As a philosophical historian and an observer of human relations, his work focused on the dominant genealogical and archaeological knowledge systems and practices, tracking them through different historical eras, including the social contexts that were in place that permitted change - the nature of power in society. He wrote that power "reaches into the very grain of individuals, touches their bodies and inserts itself into their actions and attitudes, their discourses, learning processes and everyday lives" (Foucault 1980,30).
Between Theory and History: On the Interdisciplinary Practice in Michel Foucault's Work
Modern Language Notes, vol. 119. No. 4., French Issue, September 2004, 2004
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POWER AND KNOWLEDGE: FOUCAULT'S DISCOURSE ON REGULATION AND RESISTANCES , 2024
Michel Foucault's exploration of power and knowledge is central to his philosophical framework. He argued that power is not simply a negative or repressive force but rather something that permeates all levels of society and is productive in nature. Foucault introduced the concept of "discourse" as systems of thought that produce knowledge and regulate social practices. Discourses are not just ways of speaking or writing but mechanisms through which power operates. They define what is considered true or false, normal or abnormal, thus shaping social norms and behaviours. Foucault's conception of power and knowledge offers a nuanced understanding of how social control operates through discourses and institutional practices, while also providing insights into strategies of resistance and the complexities of individual agency within power structures. His work like The Archaeology of Knowledge and Madness and Civilization continue to influence fields ranging from sociology and political theory to cultural studies and beyond. Discourses regulate knowledge by determining what counts as knowledge in a given context. They establish the boundaries of acceptable knowledge and exclude alternative perspectives or forms of knowledge. For example, scientific discourse defines what counts as valid scientific knowledge and excludes non-scientific ways of understanding the world. Foucault’s concept of discourse challenges to rethink how knowledge is produced, how power operates through knowledge, and how individuals are constituted within these processes. Foucault’s analysis of discourse encourages critical reflection on how knowledge and power are intertwined.
Exploring Michel Foucault’s Move from Power and Knowledge to Ethics and the Self
2014
In this dissertation, I will consider the multiple trajectories of the thought of Michel Foucault in the 1970s and 1980s, offering an approach through which his writings on power and knowledge on one hand, and ethics and the self on the other can be understood fruitfully in relation to each other without being seen as representing a radical break in his work. I will do this by, first, locating the question of the subject and its formation within Foucault’s works on disciplinary power and sexuality, paving the way for this question to be revisited through his later writings on ethics. I will then consider how the development of Foucault’s ideas on power into biopower and governmentality enable an approach through which continuity within Foucault’s works can be identified through the relations between power, conduct and modes of individualisation. This will lead to considering Foucault’s genealogy of ethics and the modern subject not as a departure from his earlier ideas, but as the culmination of his interest in analysing knowledge, power and ethics. I will consider but go beyond the notions of aesthetics of existence and care of the self in Foucault’s discussion of ancient Greek and Hellenistic ethics in order to deal with his ideas on parrhēsia and truth-telling from his final lecture courses at the Collège De France that show that his late ideas reflect his earlier concerns. Therefore, by appealing to the conceptual developments within his writings as well as his approach to philosophical analysis, Foucault’s philosophical projects need not be seen as disparate and so the issue of continuity in his work can be raised and positively viewed.
KNOWLEDGE AND CRITIQUE -A FOUCAULDIAN PERSPECTIVE Knowledge and Critique. A Foucauldian Perspective
In the literature on organizational learning and knowledge, one often finds reference to the pivotal role of critical reflection. While critical reflection is much talked about, it seems that less attention is given to critical practices in general. We argue that critique should not be reduced to critical reflection, as this might unduly limit our understanding of the actual effects of critical practices. In the paper, we resort to the work of Michel Foucault to illustrate, first, the intrinsic connection between power and knowledge and, second, the ambiguous role of critique as both a practice of opening up power/knowledge systems and as an effort to govern the actions of others. Rather than to make a prescriptive plea for more critique and critical reflection, we suggest that organization theory should try to understand the manifold effects that critical practices can bring about in organizations. Abstract In the literature on organizational learning and knowledge, one often finds reference to the pivotal role of critical reflection. While critical reflection is much talked about, it seems that less attention is given to critical practices in general. We argue that critique should not be reduced to critical reflection, as this might unduly limit our understanding of the actual effects of critical practices. In the paper, we resort to the work of Michel Foucault to illustrate, first, the intrinsic connection between power and knowledge and, second, the ambiguous role of critique as both a practice of opening up power/knowledge systems and as an effort to govern the actions of others. Rather than to make a prescriptive plea for more critique and critical reflection, we suggest that organization theory should try to understand the manifold effects that critical practices can bring about in organizations.