Ian, I have some thoughts ... (but not very academic ones)
I think that what happened in Chile (as well as in Argentina -my country-
and many other South American countries) is a good example of what Foucault
says in the first part of your quote.
I think that Chile is an extreme example (extreme at least for Americans and
western Europeans) of how an specific group can use the different forms of
legitimized control (justice, the existence of a military force, regulations
about what is moral or not, etc) to support its political hegemony.
Further, I think that today the same reasoning applies. Even though I am not
a Pinochet supporter, I have to agree that this intent to judge Pinochet is
a political act. And sincerely, I don't think that this fact is necesarily
bad.
Besides this debate around the use of justice as a political tool, I think
that there is a much more interesting physics-of-power analysis to be made
about the Chilean process such as, how
did Chileans build networks to develop opposition activities at their local
level of influence? how did they build connections with other nodes? how did
Pinochet and his allies confronted the micro-networks that opposed them?.
I think that an analysis like this may generate good insights about how to
develop strategies at the micro-physic level of power to combat a
macro-physic state-driven hegemony.
Saludos / Regards
Marcos A. Peralta
-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Robert Douglas [mailto:Ian_Robert_Douglas@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 1998 7:43 PM
To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: disappeared
Does anyone have any thoughts on Pinochet? There is an interesting
response from Foucault in _Remarks on Marx_ where he states, "It seems to
me that the idea of justice in itself is an idea which in effect has been
invented and put to work in different types of societies as an instrument
of a certain political and economic power or as a weapon against that power
.. One can't .. put these notions forward to justify a fight which should
.. overthrow the very fundaments of our society."
I'm quoting out of context, of course, but I wonder what Foucault might
have said about Pinochet. Or better still--for we shouldn't feel any need
to parrot-fashion attempt to use the words he might use--I wonder what
people who, like myself, have been deeply influenced by his force of
thinking and intervention think about this immediate issue.
best wishes/sincerely,
____________________________________________
Ian Robert Douglas,
Watson Institute of International Studies,
Brown University, Box 1831,
130 Hope Street,
Providence, RI 02912
tel: 401 863-2420
fax: 401 863-2192
"Above all, we must keep firmly in mind what
it means to be a human being." - Kierkegaard
I think that what happened in Chile (as well as in Argentina -my country-
and many other South American countries) is a good example of what Foucault
says in the first part of your quote.
I think that Chile is an extreme example (extreme at least for Americans and
western Europeans) of how an specific group can use the different forms of
legitimized control (justice, the existence of a military force, regulations
about what is moral or not, etc) to support its political hegemony.
Further, I think that today the same reasoning applies. Even though I am not
a Pinochet supporter, I have to agree that this intent to judge Pinochet is
a political act. And sincerely, I don't think that this fact is necesarily
bad.
Besides this debate around the use of justice as a political tool, I think
that there is a much more interesting physics-of-power analysis to be made
about the Chilean process such as, how
did Chileans build networks to develop opposition activities at their local
level of influence? how did they build connections with other nodes? how did
Pinochet and his allies confronted the micro-networks that opposed them?.
I think that an analysis like this may generate good insights about how to
develop strategies at the micro-physic level of power to combat a
macro-physic state-driven hegemony.
Saludos / Regards
Marcos A. Peralta
-----Original Message-----
From: Ian Robert Douglas [mailto:Ian_Robert_Douglas@xxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, November 11, 1998 7:43 PM
To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: disappeared
Does anyone have any thoughts on Pinochet? There is an interesting
response from Foucault in _Remarks on Marx_ where he states, "It seems to
me that the idea of justice in itself is an idea which in effect has been
invented and put to work in different types of societies as an instrument
of a certain political and economic power or as a weapon against that power
.. One can't .. put these notions forward to justify a fight which should
.. overthrow the very fundaments of our society."
I'm quoting out of context, of course, but I wonder what Foucault might
have said about Pinochet. Or better still--for we shouldn't feel any need
to parrot-fashion attempt to use the words he might use--I wonder what
people who, like myself, have been deeply influenced by his force of
thinking and intervention think about this immediate issue.
best wishes/sincerely,
____________________________________________
Ian Robert Douglas,
Watson Institute of International Studies,
Brown University, Box 1831,
130 Hope Street,
Providence, RI 02912
tel: 401 863-2420
fax: 401 863-2192
"Above all, we must keep firmly in mind what
it means to be a human being." - Kierkegaard