File spoon-archives/foucault.archive/foucault_2001/foucault.0108, message 44


From: "Ali Rizvi" <ali_m_rizvi-AT-hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: disciplinary society in crisis
Date: Fri, 24 Aug 2001 18:27:42 


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<P>Nathan</P>
<P>Thanks for response.</P>
<P>I think there are different levels on which debate should be situated and differentiated.</P>
<P>My own understanding is that people who are talking about post disciplinary society (Deleuze, Negri) are talking about the 'opening up' of disciplinary society, not because of any struggle but because of the 'maturation' of the system itself/due to the internal dynamics of the system itself (this is evident for example in Negri's Empire). So the success of struggles does not consist in the 'maturation' of disciplinary society but in it's transcendence, at least this is/should be? the end of these struggles.</P>
<P>Whether this potential of struggles would actually be realised depends on the efficacy of strategy, the potential of struggles to evolve into a generality (albeit a negative one) etc (cf. What is Enlightenment and Truth and Method in FR). </P>
<P>To take your following comments:</P>
<P>" Would the proliferation of new identities (via<BR>these single-issue movements) be a challenge to disciplinary society, or<BR>simply one of its prime effects?"</P>
<P>I would say not necessarily (in either case). Foucault was quite ambivalent as to the actual efficacy of such identity proliferations as is evident in his ambivalent attitude towards the gay movement and its revolutionary potential. The reason behind this is the fact that proliferation, dissemination, dispersion itself is the heart of mechanism and working of capitalism, however capitalism has ability to converge back all this diversity to a singularity. So I would think that only the sort of  identity proliferation that 'consciously' resist this convergence back has a potential to develop into a system threatening force, and that is only a possibility even after that. </P>
<P>I hope this helps.</P>
<P>regards<BR>ali</P></DIV>
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