Michel Foucault and Power

As we watch the events of the last week unfold in the middle east, I do not think there is anyone who thinks there will not be some shift of power in the region. Is this shift of power good or bad? I guess it depends... on who you are.

Power is a very unique and different concept. Michel Foucault has some interesting thoughts on power. He writes, "What, therefore, would be proper to a relationship of power is that it be a mode of action upon actions. That is to say, power relations are rooted deep in the social nexus, not reconstituted "above" society as a supplementary structure whose radical effacement one could perhaps dream of. In any case, to live in a society is to live in such a way that action upon other actions is possible-- and in fact ongoing. A society without power relations can only be an abstraction. Which, be it said in passing, makes all the more politically necessary the analysis of power relations in a given society, their historical formation, the source of their strength or fragility, the conditions which are necessary to transform some or to abolish others."

This is the crux of power and why people are willing to risk their lives for it. When we live in such a way that action upon action is on-going and equal then power is in balance and peace reins. However, when one action rules over all other actions, well, then all the other actions await their chance to get back on top of the dominant action. I think this is what we see currently spilling out in the middle east. All these actions have been dominated for so long by one dominant action that there will be no way to control and calm these actions until the one that has been dominant for so long ceases to dominate.

As we watch change take place, we can do so understanding a little more about power. Foucault writes, "In effect, between a relationship of power and a strategy of struggle there is a reciprocal appeal, a perpetual linking and a perpetual reversal. At every moment the relationship of power may become a confrontation between two adversaries. Equally, the relationship between adversaries in society may, at every moment, give place to the putting into operation of mechanisms of power. The consequence of this instability is the ability to decipher the same events and the same transformations either from inside the history of struggle or from the standpoint of the power relationships. The interpretations which result will not consist of the same elements of meaning or the same links or the same types of intelligibility, although they refer to the same historical fabric, and each of the two analyses must have reference to the other. In fact, it is precisely the disparities between the two readings which make visible those fundamental phenomena of "domination" which are present in a large number of human societies."

This American idea of freedom and equality, while constantly criticized, has yet to find its equal. It is a combination that can keep power in check, if allowed. If power is not held in check, the consequences are deep and tragic just ask those in Egypt and Jordan. Blessings!