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Michel Foucault's Theory Of Power

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In contemporary society today, individuals are entitled to a set of guaranteed rights and freedom which are used to safeguard individuality amongst all. In Canada, inhabitants physically residing on Canadian soil are protected by the Canadian Charter which grants individuals numerous civil and political rights. These rights are an encompassment of the common beliefs, customs, and norms based on society’s present understanding of the world. Hence, when society evolves and the population starts altering their views about certain topics, the entire legal system must adapt in order to be in accordance with the current beliefs, customs and norms of society. For instance, when examining the concept of “punishment” it is clear that although punishment …show more content…

Since it is not an option for cruel punishment to be used as a deterrence, the question arises; how does the state exhibit and enforce their supremacy upon the general public to ensure that individuals abide by the norms and customs of society? The goal of this paper is to answer this question through the utilization of French philosopher Michel Foucault’s theory of power. The paper will outline the key components that caused most democratic countries to move away from the idea of cruel penalties as a way to ensure obedience to the set rules. The paper will also differentiate between sovereign and disciplinary power, primarily concentrating on the prevailing relationship between modern society and disciplinary power. By doing so, additional scholars will be incorporated to examine various viewpoints on the notion of power and contrast any critiques present with Foucault’s ideas. The main purpose of this paper is to argue to readers that the awareness of being watched and a loss of privacy can put an end to independence and create conformity to the state and its …show more content…

He distinguishes between the two concepts of power: sovereignty and disciplinary, expanding our understanding of law and society by arguing that the modern state has shifted from enforcing power physically to psychologically. In the previous eras, it was common for power to be enforced physically amongst the population causing a sense of fear in the mind of an individual so the rules of society would not be challenged. Power of the state and sovereign was emblazoned through torture or execution on the bodies of those that had the courage to resist the rules set by society. Sovereignty was associated with monarchical rules as the head of state had absolute power over essentially every individual below him in position. For instance, those in the ruling class had a right of life and death which in essence means they can either have people put to death or allow the individuals to live (Foucault, 2003). Contemporary society has moved away from exercising power through this method and we see this evolution from countries such as Canada who no longer have execution rulings entrenched in their constitution as to punish those who contravene Canadian laws. Such authority the sovereign used as a way to punish has a significant historical background in regards to socio-legal studies because this authority is exactly what the movement of liberalism fought against. This fight ultimately leads

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In 1892 the Canadian Criminal Code was proclaimed for a country that was never thought of to become a nation with more than 35 million individuals and as developed as it is politically, socially, and economically. Our great nation has expanded into an ever changing and transitioning society that as it moves forward crimes are committed across the board by individuals of Canada’s various different races and cultures, where in which sentences are demanded to ensure Canada remains fair and just. The 1892 Criminal Code didn’t account for the developments, expansions, and transitions that Canada has endured over a hundred years, and Canada looks nothing like it did in 1892. Due to the changes, our provinces and territories have all developed substantially;

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HIST 3005 Contreras 1 Luis Contreras Sophie Tunney 12/3/2018 The Needs of the people When a form of governing a state becomes obsolete it is sometimes best to do away with that form of governance and install a new form of government. In our “Shaping Of The Modern World” textbook we can find the source “Common sense” by Thomas Paine explaining how ineffective England’s rule over the colonies is, and we can also find “Social Order And Absolute Monarchy” by Jean Domat which argues in favor of absolute rule by the monarchy. Domat’s idea of absolute monarchy is flawed however because when a monarchy is in power it limits the growth of the state, stomp on the natural rights of its citizen’s, their decisions will affect their people

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In political science, states have a legal monopoly on violence within their sovereignty; in reality, this means a Government’s domestic policing powers are largely unconstrained, as it can justly, or unjustly, coerce, imprison, and murder in the name of the public. Yet in modern America, and most of the western world, constitutional checks and balances have constrained state interference; these limits specifically curtail a state’s policing power by protecting the individual’s autonomy from political tyranny and partiality. These so-called ‘natural rights’, liberties, or protections originated from the Enlightenment, and established the importance of individuals in relation to their societies and states. Modernity thinkers such as Tocqueville

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Executing these rules are done by taking advantage of new technology. Both George Orwell’s 1984 and Shaw C. Mitchell’s “ Personal Privacy Up For Grabs,” explain how a forceful government can strip away the freedom of a whole society. Authorities suppress

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The Declaration of Independence notes that state’s derive “their powers from consent governed”. In this essay I will argue that the state has the right to rule as we consent to its power, we express our consent through tacit consent. This essay will also analyse the issues faced by tacit consent. The state’s legitimate right to rule derives from the equally legitimate consent given as part of the social contract The issue of whether the state has a legitimate right to rule over us, arises as many political philosophers argue that we are free agents, which leads to two issues, autonomy, and welfare.

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During Trudeau’s second term as Canada’s Prime Minister, he protected key human rights. On July 14th, 1976, Government Bill C-84 was passed (4). This bill proposed the abolishment of the death penalty. Although the first attempt at abolishing the death penalty was made in 1914, Trudeau was the only Prime Minister whose efforts were successful. “The death penalty is cruel, inhuman and degrading and breaks two crucial human rights: the right to live and the right to live free from torture.”

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Nowadays, we live in a democratic state, in which we can express ourselves, to act and to protest if we do not comply with the laws. We can move freely, without being anxious that we will be denounced to the police for breaking the rules. In ‘1984’ by George Orwell the situation is different: Big Brother is watching you, the Thought Police could be ubiquitous, even your children accuse you.

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One of the ultimate demonstrations of power is the ability to mete out a lethal punishment to which no infraction is necessary. With sufficient power employed over sufficient layers of bureaucratic obfuscation, what would normally inspire confusion and outrage instead inspires worship and dehumanization . (pp 244-246, esp. footnote 63, pp 44-452) "Since the people it dominates never really know why something is happening, and a rational interpretation of laws does not exist, there remains only one thing that counts, the brutal naked event

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The question of state involvement in society has long been discussed by philosophers, thinkers and theorists. In this paper, I will argue that governments exist to serve the people, administer justice and security of society but must be limited in their involvement in day to day life. I will prove this by presenting three arguments based off the ideas of influential thinkers before me. My first argument will build off the work of John Locke’s theory that governments are implemented by the people for our convenience to protect our natural rights. I will then show a possible objection to this premise by discussing Thomas Hobbes’ strong sole leader theory.

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Power is an invisible form and has the capacity to control or influence the behaviour of a person. The claim given states that ‘employees are not the bearers of power but they suffer the effects of power’ draws attention to the key aspect of power in the organisations. For this reason, this essay will points toward the Weber’s theory for bureaucracy and how Foucault use the Panopticon as a metaphor to define the concept of power. Despite bearing some complementary perspectives, the differences between Weber and Foucault approaches to concepts of power and domination are pronounced. Weber (1968) defined power as the ability of an individual or group to achieve goals even against the resistance of others (Lukes, 1986).

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Foucault describes the notion of disciplinary power as a modern form of power which can be described as being productive rather than repressive (Hook, 2004). This is done in the sense of ‘bring things into being’, and producing both the discipline of psychology as knowledge as well as subjective effects. Subject effects include individuality and the soul (Hook, 2004). Hook (2004) further states that disciplinary power is related to a set of techniques, these being certain assessments and procedures that treat subjects while measuring and monitoring them. This is done so as to normalise deviant subjects further.

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Big brother implies the authority that regulates and monitors information and citizens. Currently, technology developments such as closed-circuit television, black box, cell phone, and a bunch of search engines, allow to record every moves that people make and to give rise to surveillance society. Surveillance society has two sides of the coin. In this essay, I will deliver pros and cons about surveillance society and possible solutions to deal with the issue.

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Robert Bierstadt’s ‘An Analysis of Social Power’ is written to “clarify the meaning of the concept … and seek the sources of social power itself.” His first point is to separate power from dominance. Observation “power is a sociological, dominance a psychological concept” reveals that Bierstadt believes power is in social interactions whereas dominance is a mental belief that someone holds power over you. Also, opinion “power is not force” but “power itself is the predisposition of or prior capacity which makes the application of force possible… power is the ability to employ force” his example “your money or your life” exposes that force is different from power and it is the threat of the use of force that is power not force itself. Leading

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Emile Durkheim’s theories on social solidarity have been leading the debate on the effects of a shift between two types of solidarity for decades. Solidarity can be seen as the bonding force that hold our societies together. One type of solidarity is mechanical solidarity. Mechanical solidarity is a society that functions as a collective, like a machine, with the same goals, dreams and fears that are driven by the ideals of a god or religious figure. In the modern world we have transitioned into organic solidarity.

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This article engages with the theories of Foucault and Agamben and focuses on their work on resistance. It studies the different construction to the concept of individual, which termed into singularity or life itself. In Agamben theory, dispositive represents the power relation network, articulates how a power not based upon classical conception of sovereignty is a key term in Focualt thought that human being is transformed into both an object and subject, on power relation. Agamben also focus on that how dispositif specially operates as an apparatus to control humanity. In analyzing the term dispositif Foucault and Agamben are look like offering two different pproaches for considering of free social life from the binds of oppressive social

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