Mark,
I found your article on the web yesterday. I have not had a chance to read it yet but thanks nonetheless for sending the proper website. I have just found out about the exchange between the marxist left and Foucault recently and I find it very important.
Thanks again for the detailed information on this particular comment. I have found it very useful to start understanding the debate.
irene
I found your article on the web yesterday. I have not had a chance to read it yet but thanks nonetheless for sending the proper website. I have just found out about the exchange between the marxist left and Foucault recently and I find it very important.
Thanks again for the detailed information on this particular comment. I have found it very useful to start understanding the debate.
irene
hi irene,
certainly.
in full the quote reads: "Power is not omnipotent or omniscient--quite the
contrary. If power relationships have produced forms of investigation, of
analysis, of models of knowledge, etc., it is precisely not because power
was omniscient, but because it was blind, because it was in a state of
impasse. If it is true that so many power relationships have been developed,
so many systems of control, so many forms of surveillance, it is precisely
because power was always impotent."
the quote originally appeared in the italian journal 'aut aut' (n. 167-8,
settembre-dicembre 1978, pp. 3-11) as 'precisazioni sul potere. riposta ad
alcuni critici'.
it can also be found in french in dits et ecrits ii (pp. 625-635) as
'précisions sur le pouvoir. réponses a certaines critiques'.
finally, you can find it in english in 'foucault live' (ch. 31, pp. 255-263)
as 'clarifications on the question of power'.
for clarification on the article and quote, foucault was in the midst of
widespread engagement and debate with the italian left. for autonomist
marxists, the book 'microfisica del potere' (much of which later appeared in
'power/knowledge') was a welcome conceptual extension of their myriad and
creative practices which were focused outside state and juridical formations
(ranging from the autonomous organization of labour to pirate radio). for
the italian communist party, foucault was a political anathema who dared to
wrest power away from its proper domain: class and capital/state. the
article in which the quote appears is an interview with pasquale pasquino in
which, as the title suggests, foucault seeks to clarify his conception of
power for italian readers.
personally, i find this to be the most compelling period of foucault's work;
i am currently finishing my doctoral dissertation (the italian foucault:
communication and the dispositif) on this topic. if you are interested in
this period where a particular 'political' foucault approached its limits,
you may be interested in this article on foucault and the autonomists:
http://aspen.conncoll.edu/politicsandculture/page.cfm?key=259
i hope this helps,
mark coté
On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 11:40:16 +0000 foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>but foucault never posited an omnipotent power against which we feeblypower
>struggle. he famously called power (in a constituted and dominant form)
>'blind and weak' (cf. 'questions on the clarification of power' in
foucault
live).
Mark, thanks for your clarification: could you
clarify the bibliographical source to me, please?
with thanks
irene
>hi richard,
>
>if you want to understand how foucault conceptualizes resistance and
>you must begin by thinking in terms of relations. that is, think of your
>everyday life as comprised of myriad relations--of what you can see,
speak,
>of subjectivities, of knowledge and of power--which are all animated by a
>dynamic of forces. these fields of relations are always contested,> >'blind and weak' (cf. 'questions on the clarification of power' in
always in
>the midst of struggle. and those relations are always assymetrical or
>uneven.
>in short, power is always in relation to that which resists it. by
>definition then, there are no power relations without resistance. of
course
>those relations are to varying degrees strategic, tactical, and
functional.
>and given that they are assymetrical, there are always dominant
relations of
>power.
>but foucault never posited an omnipotent power against which we feebly
>struggle. he famously called power (in a constituted and dominant form)
foucaultan
>live).
>i always recommend the 'method' chapter in history of sexuality v. 1 as
>accessible and comprehensive entry point for understanding foucaultianat
>power.
>
>good luck in your studies,
>
>mark coté
>
>On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 10:44:31 +0000 foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
>>
>>
>> Hi there my name is Richard Turner and I am an undergraduate student
>the
>> Univeristy of Edinburgh.
>>
>> The real reason I have joined this list is to try and tap you all
for your
>
>> knowledge!! I am struggling a bit with my reading of Foucault and
I want
>to
>> know what Foucault would say about what it meant to resist power.
>>
>> Can anyone help?
>>
>> Richard
>> _______________________________________________
>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>
>
>
>
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