Philippine E-Journals

RETHINKING FOUCAULT’S NOTION OF POWER IN A SOCIAL CONTEXT

Orlando Ali M. Mandane Jr.

 

Abstract:

Foucault’s critique of power appears to successfully discredit the repressive model of power. The idea that power is a force relation and not permanently localizable seems sensible enough for it is able to account for the fissure or changes in social relations, as in the case of social revolutions. In this paper, I argue that while this notion of power seems sound on the ideal level, social conditions bolster rather compellingly the repressive model. I argue that the Philippine social condition warrants this position and, thus, the impasse calls for a rethinking of the notion of power. This paper intends to examine the implication of Foucault’s inversion of Clausewitz and his conception of power. I will divide the paper into three parts: 1) the Clausewitzian view that was inverted by Foucault (to use the logical term: converted by Foucault); 2) the Foucauldian inversion of Clausewitz; and 3) the impact of such inversion on power and its relevance to the Philippine Social Condition