Michel Foucault

● (born October 15, 1926, Poitiers, France—died June 25, 1984, Paris)
● French philosopher and historian
● He is one of the most influential and controversial scholars of the
post-World War II period.
Power/knowledge
Foucault argued that knowledge and power are intimately bound
up. So much so, that that he coined the term “power/knowledge”
to point out that one is not separate from the other.
Every exercise of power depends on a scaffold of knowledge that
supports it. And claims to knowledge advance the interests and
power of certain groups while marginalising others. In practice,
this often legitimises the mistreatment of these others in the
name of correcting and helping them.
What has made Foucault so appealing to such a broad range of scholars is
that he didn’t just look at abstract theories of philosophy or of historical
change. Rather, he analysed what was actually said. In his most important
works, this included an analysis of texts, images and buildings in order to
map how forms of knowledge change.
For example, he argued that sexuality was not simply repressed in the 19th
century. Rather, it was widely discussed in an expanding new scientific
literature where patients were encouraged to talk about sexual experiences
in clinical settings.
With the recent explosion in surveillance cameras as well the role of “big
data” we have now well and truly entered the surveillance society. Foucault’s
insights on this topic continue to be explored by scholars across the social
sciences and humanities.