Technologies of Power: Difference between revisions
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==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
Foucault's Four Technologies: | Foucault's Four Technologies: | ||
* Technologies of Production (manipulating things) | |||
* Technologies of Sign Systems (manipulating meanings) | |||
* Technologies of Power (manipulating others) | |||
* Technologies of the Self (manipulating oneself) | |||
''' | |||
Sovereign Power | Sovereign Power''' | ||
The old form: king or state exercises power through force, law, and visible punishment (e.g., executions). | The old form: king or state exercises power through force, law, and visible punishment (e.g., executions). | ||
''' | |||
Disciplinary Power | Disciplinary Power''' | ||
Emerges in the 17th–18th centuries (schools, prisons, barracks, hospitals). | Emerges in the 17th–18th centuries (schools, prisons, barracks, hospitals). | ||
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The Panopticon is its iconic diagram: visibility disciplines without constant force. | The Panopticon is its iconic diagram: visibility disciplines without constant force. | ||
Biopower | '''Biopower''' | ||
Arises in the 18th–19th centuries alongside modern states. | Arises in the 18th–19th centuries alongside modern states. | ||
| Line 62: | Line 60: | ||
Power shifts from “the right to take life” to “the power to foster life or disallow it to the point of death.” | Power shifts from “the right to take life” to “the power to foster life or disallow it to the point of death.” | ||
''' | |||
Governmentality | Governmentality''' | ||
The “conduct of conduct”: techniques for steering both populations and individuals. | The “conduct of conduct”: techniques for steering both populations and individuals. | ||
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[[category:terms]] | [[category:terms]] | ||
[[Is a term::Foucault| ]] | [[Is a term::Foucault| ]] | ||
[[Is a::Mechanism of Compliance| ]] | [[Is a::Mechanism of Compliance| ]] | ||
[[Is a::Mechanism of Emancipation| ]] | [[Is a::Mechanism of Emancipation| ]] | ||
[[Is a related term::System Agents| ]] | [[Is a related term::System Agents| ]] | ||
Latest revision as of 15:42, 29 May 2026
Technologies of Power
Technologies of Power are the apparatuses that structure human conduct, objectify subjects, and channel life processes toward particular ends, specifically capitalist work systems and capitalist productivity. They operate through sovereignty, discipline, biopolitics, and governmentality. Crucially, they are inseparable from Technologies of the Self, since domination often works by recruiting individuals into self-regulation.
Concept Map
Foucault
Foucault > Archaeological Research, Discourse, Subjugated Knowledge, Technologies of Power, Technologies of the Self
Key Terms
- Accumulation
- Mechanisms of Compliance
- Rocket Scientists' Guide to Money and the Economy
- Social Class
- System Agent
- Unfettered Accumulation
Types > Technologies of Production, Technologies of Sign Systems, Technologies of the Self, Technologies of the Self
Mechanisms of Compliance
Mechanisms of Compliance > Mechanisms of Force, Mechanisms of Indoctrination, Mechanisms of Surveillance, Technologies of Power, Technologies of the Self, Toxic Socialization
Syncretic Terms
Related LP Terms
Non-LP Related Terms
Notes
Foucault's Four Technologies:
- Technologies of Production (manipulating things)
- Technologies of Sign Systems (manipulating meanings)
- Technologies of Power (manipulating others)
- Technologies of the Self (manipulating oneself)
Sovereign Power
The old form: king or state exercises power through force, law, and visible punishment (e.g., executions). Disciplinary Power
Emerges in the 17th–18th centuries (schools, prisons, barracks, hospitals).
Works through surveillance, examination, regimentation of space/time, and “micro-powers” that produce docile bodies.
The Panopticon is its iconic diagram: visibility disciplines without constant force.
Biopower
Arises in the 18th–19th centuries alongside modern states.
Focuses on regulating life processes: birth rates, health, sexuality, hygiene, populations.
Power shifts from “the right to take life” to “the power to foster life or disallow it to the point of death.” Governmentality
The “conduct of conduct”: techniques for steering both populations and individuals.
Power here is less about brute domination and more about shaping the field of possible actions, making people govern themselves (through norms, statistics, economics).
Citation and Legal
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Footnotes