On Wed, 12 Feb 1997, malgosia askanas wrote:
> Sorry, this is a postscript. I think the whole thinking in terms of
> "minorities" is completely screwy vis-a-vis the framework of foucauldian
> thinking. It is not some kind of "minority" that is enmeshed in the
> institutions governing sanity, madness, criminality, innocence, sexuality,
> work, thinking, power, truth -- it is all of us, no?
i see what you mean. but if foucault is about studying power, and
one defines "minority" in terms of power or lack thereof, then one
could argue that foucault's ideas are especially urgent for that
kind of minority. white "minority" in south africa - numerically
inferior but superior in power - not what i'm talking about. women -
numerically equal to men, but inferior in power - more the kind of
minority i mean. of course i do agree with you that it's
ultimately relevant to everyone, but demographics do show consistent
differences w/r/2 minorities and "criminality" (jail populations),
"work"(avg salary and work environment), "thinking" (opinion polls, voting
patterns) etc. - and "scientific" study of such data often helps to
perpetuate those differences (_the bell curve_ and co.)
sig
> Sorry, this is a postscript. I think the whole thinking in terms of
> "minorities" is completely screwy vis-a-vis the framework of foucauldian
> thinking. It is not some kind of "minority" that is enmeshed in the
> institutions governing sanity, madness, criminality, innocence, sexuality,
> work, thinking, power, truth -- it is all of us, no?
i see what you mean. but if foucault is about studying power, and
one defines "minority" in terms of power or lack thereof, then one
could argue that foucault's ideas are especially urgent for that
kind of minority. white "minority" in south africa - numerically
inferior but superior in power - not what i'm talking about. women -
numerically equal to men, but inferior in power - more the kind of
minority i mean. of course i do agree with you that it's
ultimately relevant to everyone, but demographics do show consistent
differences w/r/2 minorities and "criminality" (jail populations),
"work"(avg salary and work environment), "thinking" (opinion polls, voting
patterns) etc. - and "scientific" study of such data often helps to
perpetuate those differences (_the bell curve_ and co.)
sig