Adam M. Foucault: Method

Description:

Foucault’s objective in this chapter is to alleviate any misunderstandings there may be about the meaning of power in the context in which he is using it. He is not referring to ways in which citizens are forced into subservience for a state, nor is he discussing a form of subjugation that has the form of the rule.

Analysis

Power is not something that is acquired, seized, or shared, and it is exercised from multiple points (p.94).

Where there is power, there is resistance, but this resistance is not in a position of exteriority in relation to power. This means that power relationships exist on the assumption that resistance will occur and will be dealt with accordingly (p.95).t

There are four main rules to follow in relation to sexuality and power relationships:

Rule of immanence

Rules of continual variations

Rule of double conditioning

Rule of the tactical polyvalence of discourses

Vision:

We must not expect the discourses on sex to tell us what strategy they derive from, what moral implications they accompany, or even what ideology they represent. Instead, we must question them on what reciprocal effects of power and knowledge they ensure (p.102).

Strategy:

Not stated