The article “Feminism, Foucault, and Subjects of Power and Freedom” by Jana Sawicki focuses on Foucault’s research and his ideas regarding feminism that he was promoting during his academic career. Sawicki discusses the different ways of resistance that were promoted by Foucault, and how modern feminists are incorporating them in their political work. While Foucault’s masculinity was not favored by others during his career, his methods were still seen to be very useful.
Sawicki divided her article into three parts: Introduction, “Feminism and Foucault: Critique, Convergence and Possibility” and “The Late Foucault on Subjectivity, Power, and Freedom”. Slowly developing her argument about Foucauldian social ideas, Sawicki first introduces to readers the controversial emotions that his personality evokes in many researchers. She boldly claims that it is very surprising that Foucault did not establish his own direction in philosophy. Foucault and his understanding of discipline is a very interesting way to look at the issues of feminism. He states that power and resistance co-exist with each other, where there is power there is resistance, and vice-versa. However, people in power are able to impose some norms on behavior which is very similar to the problem of sex freedom. For example, women are not expected to have any sexual relationships that may be judged by society. On the contrary, some sexual behaviors are seen to be more acceptable by men. It is also helpful that Sawicki provides contextual information on the dense philosophical ideas she is discussing by citing other relevant philosophers and/or scientists. These academic thinkers would either support or oppose the specific idea being discussed. She further provides many examples of the approaches and theories that Foucault theorized that were seen to be unfavorable for feminists. However, by applying a critical lens, these theories can provide beneficial information for current feminists movements. Therefore, the central focus of the article discusses Foucault’s theoretical ideas that contributed to feminism, and how they were socially perceived – from the government to feminist social movements past and present.
This reading has greatly added to my knowledge of equity in both the political and social realms. First of all, it seems that there is only one lateral view of feminism. Often times, feminism is usually represented by groups of women fighting for their equality and rights ranging from physical and health rights to equal pay. However, Sawicki provides readers with an alternative understanding namely that there can be diverse approaches to expressing ideas concerning feminism. Some of the concepts offered by Foucault are seen as ‘extreme’ by many philosophers. fighting for women’s rights during the time Foucault was writing was a fairly new concept, and therefore were not favorably viewed as acceptable, but rather bizarre. This is due to the fact that it challenged and disrupted the dominant patriarchal norm. Sawicki has thus provided me with different ways of looking at an issue and finding a solution for it. Similar to how Foucault and his theories were underestimated by some people, but for others, they were beneficial and helped them to achieve their goals and resist for the better cause.
One of the concepts that Foucault discusses in his works is power and all the parts that fall into this category. He names three types of power: “exploitation, racial or ethnic hegemony, and “subjection” (Sawicki 1996). He as a person was supporting people who were colonized or suppressed at some point to find their way to freedom. However, Foucault claims that the process of liberation is very complicated and hard to be achieved because of power tension. He discusses the concepts of power and liberation in a very interesting manner. Foucault claims that the relation in power should be changed and not only passed to different representatives of power. Foucault further acknowledges that people who are seeking liberation are often not sure who they want to see as the next ruling power, showing us the complexity of liberation, as there always need to be a dominant and subordinate class in order for power to work effectively.
In other words, getting power and winning the fight is not the end goal of the fight for liberation. Applying it to modern political protests, it is important for protestors to know what their final goal is within their fight. Getting power in their hands may not be the best solution for them. The people who are fighting for a better future should have a set plan on how they will make a change in the power and its institutions. Also, it is important to have the ideas after the power comes to the people who are trying to get to the power. t may be not the end of the battle. Therefore, it is crucial to set many different steps in advanced in order to be able to produce a positive result – both in theory and action.
References
Sawicki, J. (1996). “Feminism, Foucault, and Subjects of Power and Freedom”. Feminist
interpretations of Michel Foucault. Penn State University Press. P. 159-178. 1996. Print.
