Power Relations - Foucault

Power is a “network of relations, constantly in tension, in activity, rather than a privilege that one might possess; one should take as its model a perpetual battle… this power is exercised rather than possessed; it is not the ‘privilege’ of the dominant class, but the overall effect of its strategic positions – an effect that is manifested and sometimes extended by the position of those who are dominated.” (p. 26)

Foucault analysed how power shapes our behaviour.
efinition: the ability to make someone do something, very often without that someone noticing it.
Characteristics:

• Invisible 
• Omnipresent 
• Constant state of flax, always flowing. Nobody has power all the time. 
• Power is not hierarchical. It doesn’t come top down or bottom up, also can come from the sides. 
• It is not negative, it can help people grow. 

It can be made manifest through:

• Building, we can’t move in the way we want. 
• Discourse: the things I say 
• The Gaze: the way people look at teach other 

Power can only be effectively exerted if people accept the legitimate right of someone to exert power.

Foucault, M. (1995) [1977]. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Pantheon.