Date: Wed, 12 Apr 1995 11:08:33 -0700 From: "mjackson.DOMAIN1" <mjackson.DOMAIN1.oramail-AT-zeus.cc.pcc.edu> Subject: Re: Foucault and Normativity In-Reply-To: ORUNIX:owner-foucault-AT-jefferson.village.virginia.edu's message of 04-11-95 19:11 Kristin notes that Foucault doesn't say much about he types of operations of resistance that are possible in various "power grids". For me, this is not a gap in Foucault's work, for Foucault is not a philosopher in the classic Platonic sense. He does not offer prescriptions like "If you want to discover Beauty, Friendship, Truth, Freedom--do this." This, for Foucault, is something we need to discover ourselves in our local struggles, our local contexts. --How to resist? Don't look to Foucault, Irigaray, or any canonical figures for guidance. What are the weakest points in various power relations? Well, Foucault can offer some strategies for identifying these. One of the reasons I like Foucault as a social theorist is that he is, in fact, a bit anarchistic: He does not lay down a political agenda and tell people what they need to do politically to be good Foucauldians. Rather, he offers strategies that can be used to understand how power works in various social locations. The agenda of resistance he leaves up to us, in our local battles. This, I think, is a good example of how to avoid recapitulating hierarchical relations in our modes of resistance to hierarchical social arrangements. Miles Jackson mjackson-AT-pcc.edu ------------------
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