Browsing by Author "Kronqvist, Otto"

The purpose of this thesis is to introduce and analyze Michel Foucault’s (1926–1984) conceptions of power (pouvoir) and violence (violence). Foucault wrote extensively about power, but seldomly analyzed violence analytically. Nevertheless he argues that power and violence are connected. This thesis is an attempt to gain an understanding of the relation between power and violence and to open the field for questions on resistance. The questions of this thesis are approached through conceptual analysis and historical investigation. The main literature consists of Foucault’s mid-70s works; from Discipline and Punish and The History of Sexuality: Volume One to his lecture series at Collège de France, especially 'Society Must Be Defended' and Security, Territory, Population. Works on Foucault that are cited include Jeffrey Nealon’s Foucault Beyond Foucault (2008), Kai Alhanen’s Practices of Thought in Michel Foucault’s Philosophy (2012) and Johanna Oksala’s Foucault, Politics, and Violence (2012). Power is mainly approached through the concepts of cost and intensity, stressing Foucault’s famous claim that 'power produces', or that it is productive in itself. In contrast to power, violence is, according to Foucault, unproductive or even destructive in its effects. In order to understand how the concept of cost and the process of intensifying are interconnected with historical changes and the corresponding use of violence, Foucault’s accounts on different historical modes of power are introduced and examined. This examination shows that historically the use of violence has developed from being excessive and brutal (the sovereign’s 'Right of Death') to normative and life-preserving (the bio-political 'Power over Life'). The analysis shows that power and violence have a certain, historically contingent connection, which is perceived through the hegemonic political rationalities. According to Foucault, in order to resist violence, it is essential to understand the rationalities in question and to refuse to co-operate with the dominating practices they foster.