Michel Foucault's Concept of Power and Knowledge

Michel Foucault

By Dr Rabia Farooq

Michel Foucault

French philosopher (1926–1984)

One of the most influential thinkers of the 20th century, gained notoriety before his untimely death in 1984.   His strong and often harsh views and arguments had a profound effect on social science disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, history, political science, psychology, medicine, gender studies, and philosophy, despite the fact that they were difficult to grasp.   In this section, we will try to understand the biography of Michel Foucault, the social context in which he lived, and some of the intellectual influences that influenced him.

In addition to writing, criticising, and advocating for political causes, this French philosopher and historian of ideas was also a thinker.

The link between power, knowledge, and liberty was at the heart of Foucault's theories.  He also examined the ways in which various organizations employ these concepts to impose social control.  We shall discuss his strength and wisdom here.

 Michel Foucault, a French philosopher, offers a unique perspective on power.  He argued that power is not confined to individuals or groups but rather is embedded in the institutions, relationships, and discourses of society.  Power is not necessarily bad, according to Foucault; it may sometimes be advantageous and necessary for society to operate.

Foucault introduced concepts like "disciplinary power" and "biopower," which explain how institutions, customs, and knowledge are used by power to control people and influence behavior.   Additionally, he emphasized the connection between knowledge and power, using the phrase "power/knowledge" to illustrate how the two support one another. Michel Foucault is well known for

The History of Sexuality (1976),

Discipline and Punish (1975), and

Madness and Civilization (1961),

The concept of Power and Knowledge:

The link between power and knowledge is a recurring issue in Foucault's writings, culminating in his neologism 'power/knowledge'. The term "power/knowledge" expresses Foucault's belief that power and knowledge are closely related.

Foucault has explained the reciprocal power/knowledge dynamic in his books.

Power circulates, according to Foucault, but previous conceptions of power have mostly focused on top-down, hierarchical authority (power from the state, lawmakers, or monarchs).

In short, power determines what is known and by whom. As a result, persons who create information are recognized as truth due to various forms of power they wield, such as political, intellectual, or economic authority. Furthermore, since power circulates, individuals in positions of power accrue it as a result of cultural and academic beliefs about knowledge and truth.

 Unlike Marxist theory, which claims that the masses are oppressed owing to a lack of access to knowledge, Foucault proposes that power has a reciprocal and creative connection with knowledge. According to Discipline and Punish, power seeks information for its ability to categorize and control individuals. Those in authority influence information about the world and ourselves, resulting in an accepted "truth." Truth determines what behavior is acceptable and who has the authority to preach the truth and deliver the treatment. Power originates from this set of recognized epistemologies while also being accountable for their creation.

Main types of Power

To completely comprehend the relationship between power and knowledge, we must first define what Foucault means by "power" and how it is used. He identified three main categories of power:

 

Sovereign Power

Biopower

Disciplined Power

Sovereign power:

The authority granted to a monarch or similar body was the source of sovereign power. In The History of Sexuality, Foucault argues that the greatest way to represent sovereign authority is the "right to take life or allow live". Public executions serve as an example of this in action.

At a public execution, a king's subjects could witness the scope of his absolute authority. Though sovereign power existed in some forms throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, it was significantly eroded by the growth of disciplinary authority and biopower.

Disciplinary power:

The body was seen by disciplinary authority as a machine that could be used to get money. Instead of using force, disciplinary authority normalises judgement and inspection by controlling the subject through hierarchical surveillance.

The first part of this, hierarchical surveillance, is that control is wielded over the subject because they believe they are constantly observed. Eventually, the subject begins to act as their own supervisor and behaves as if they are constantly monitored. Normalizing judgments are used to label individuals who do not fit the norm as aberrant and deviant. Examination entails checking, judging, and classifying an individual based on these prescribed bodies of knowledge. These three components comprise disciplinary power, which may be seen in the educational system. For example, children are consistently observed in terms of their behavior and act as if they are always being watched, even when a teacher is not present. Schools also wield influence by establishing standards such as responding to bells, raising hands to ask a question, and conforming to the school's behavioral guidelines. In schools, examination takes the form of punishments and rewards for behavior; pupils are graded and reports are produced about their behavior, effort, and achievement.

Biopower:

Biopower attempted to control a person's body in order to govern the population, seeing the body in terms of biological processes. The production of scientific knowledge, such as that pertaining to fitness and health, which aids in the development of concepts regarding the normal body, is how biopower is accomplished.

While sovereign power was never totally displaced and is still used to some extent, disciplinary power and biopower were the primary means by which the state could govern populations. Rather than administering corporal punishments or other types of harm to the body, disciplinary power was reinforced through the organization of space, time, and behavior. This can be seen in the rigorous scheduling of activities in schools, jails, and army camps.

Since Foucault feels that power dynamics may be clearly formed in institutions like hospitals, schools, prisons, and asylums, a large portion of his work focusses on these settings. When examining these environments, Foucault is more interested in how the subject is manipulated by their surroundings and strict activity structuring than he is in the power bearer, such as physicians, teachers, or jail guards. The person has been conditioned to react to a particular type of authority by each of these circumstances.

It is worth noting that Foucault sees the relationship between power and knowledge as operating throughout society, at both the institutional and individual levels. Foucault cites two examples of this: the medical establishment and the Catholic Church.  In each of these cases, as well as in other institutions mentioned by Foucault, the subject's self-awareness is shaped by observational discipline. According to Foucault, Madness and Civilization depicts how power/knowledge is used in the transition from asylum to psychiatric institution. The discourses around lunacy shifted in the late eighteenth century as sovereignty gave way to disciplinary power. The asylum became a hospital, the insane became a patient, and imprisonment evolved into therapeutic care. Restraints were removed, and craziness became something to be viewed and researched Foucault illustrates this by using the York Retreat, a hospital established on the tenets of rest, self-control, and humanitarian care.Thus, the medical professional's understanding of the mind and body, which resulted from his scientific training, gave him authority over the patient.

Power over the patient was thus obtained through the medical practitioner's grasp of the mind and body, which stemmed from his scientific knowledge.  Similarly, in The History of Sexuality, Foucault contends that certain sexualities or sexual behaviours were labeled as deviant or subversive due to the widely acknowledged truth of normative sexual practices. This not only influenced society's attitudes about sexuality, but it also caused alleged transgressors to internalize this 'truth' about themselves. This happens when persons in positions of authority pretend to be the most educated and hence have the ability to affect our interpretations and understanding of ourselves.

The Catholic confessional, for instance, is a prime illustration of the power/knowledge dynamic at play, according to Foucault. A priest, who is empowered by the Catholic Church, uses this authority to obtain confessions, thereby expanding his knowledge, which is then transferred to the confessing subject and used to mold their behavior in order to conform and repress sexual desire. (Foucault, 1978).