"The paradox of the relations of capacity and power."
"We know that the great promise or the great hope of the eighteenth century,
or a part of the eighteenth century, lay in the simultaneous and
proportional growth of individuals with respect to one another. And,
moreover, we can see that throughout the entire history of Western
societies...the acquisition of capabilities and the struggle for freedom
have constituted permanent elements. Now, the relations between the growth
of capabilities and the growth of autonomy are not as simple as the
eighteenth century may have believed. And we have been able to see what
forms of power relation were conveyed by various technologies (whether we
are speaking of productions with economic aims, or institutions whose goal
is social regulation, or of techniques of communication):disciplines, both
collective and individual, procedures of normalization exercised in the name
of the power of the state, demands of society or of population zones, are
examples. What is at stake, then, is this: how can the growth of
capabilities [capacités] be disconnected from the intensification of power
relations?" (Foucault 'What is Enlightenment,' in id., Power: 317; cf. id.,
The Foucault Reader: 47-48).
I've yet to fully digest this and its relation to the other quotes I've
posted, but the last line does suggest that there is at least a connection
between capacities and power; a connection that needs to be uncoupled.
regards - k
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"We know that the great promise or the great hope of the eighteenth century,
or a part of the eighteenth century, lay in the simultaneous and
proportional growth of individuals with respect to one another. And,
moreover, we can see that throughout the entire history of Western
societies...the acquisition of capabilities and the struggle for freedom
have constituted permanent elements. Now, the relations between the growth
of capabilities and the growth of autonomy are not as simple as the
eighteenth century may have believed. And we have been able to see what
forms of power relation were conveyed by various technologies (whether we
are speaking of productions with economic aims, or institutions whose goal
is social regulation, or of techniques of communication):disciplines, both
collective and individual, procedures of normalization exercised in the name
of the power of the state, demands of society or of population zones, are
examples. What is at stake, then, is this: how can the growth of
capabilities [capacités] be disconnected from the intensification of power
relations?" (Foucault 'What is Enlightenment,' in id., Power: 317; cf. id.,
The Foucault Reader: 47-48).
I've yet to fully digest this and its relation to the other quotes I've
posted, but the last line does suggest that there is at least a connection
between capacities and power; a connection that needs to be uncoupled.
regards - k
---
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Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.775 / Virus Database: 522 - Release Date: 08/10/2004
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