Michael Foucault Symbolic Interaction Theory

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3.1 Theoretical Framework 3.1.a. Symbolic Interactionism Symbolic interactionism has emerged in the middle of twentieth century as an answer to the dominant approaches which offer macro-level and top-down analysis to society in the field of sociology. It was influenced by Scottish Moralist philosophers from who view the "society as a network of interpersonal communication that connect people". It was also influenced by the American Pragmatist philosophers who view the mind as a device for adaptation and emphasized the significance of the environment specifically the social world for the emergence of an individual. Despite differences in their focus of study, they are similar in that they both study human group life and human conduct (Longmore …show more content…

Power Scholars and researchers have been fascinated with power that they repeatedly define and describe it for years. Michael Foucault, a postmodernist philosopher, has been one of the most influential figures in the study of power. His theory of power breaks away from the conventional notion of power which are negative, hierarchical and centralized to the state (Guinote and Vescio 2010; Daldal 2014; Larkin 2011; powercube.net). For Foucault, "power is everywhere and comes from everywhere" (powercub.net; routledgesoc.com). He sees power as pervasive and dispersed in "every grains of individuals". Therefore, people 's lives are completely enmeshed in different power relations in society. On the other hand, he also sees power as both negative and positive which is the reason why he believed in the possibilities of action and resistance. Action for Foucault is the ability of an individual to distinguish and to question norms and problems in his/her surroundings. Then, resistance will start to form. According to Asli Daldal, Assistant Professor of Political Science in Istanbul Yıldız Technical University, "These resistances (which are everywhere just like the power relations) aim at asserting to man the right to be different. For Foucault, man can become an "individual". As long as he can be conscious of those power relations (which he generally is, as consciousness is not a major concern for Foucault) he can resist them. …show more content…

Some of these are intersecting roads, Grand Canyon, kaleidoscope, fly 's eye, swirls of cake, the finished product after blending baking ingredients. Organizations such as the Canadian Research Institute for the Advancement of Women (CRIAW) and theWomen of Color Policy Network (WCPN) depict intersectionality using wheel diagrams. CRIAW 's model show how experiences shape exclusion from individual to macro-forces while WCPN show social equality issues which are also shaped from the microlevel to macrolevel (Ibid.) Although these researchers and organizations have different depictions of intersectionality, they all provide a deeper understanding of how this approach works. Intersectionality is a device that offers a multi-level and a bottom-up critical analysis. Using this approach can provide a better understanding of how oppression works from individual to the society which obliged people to visit the human rights 's status. Hence," it is a tool for building a global culture of human rights from the grassroots to the global level" (Women’s Rights and Economic Change 2004). 3. 2. Conceptual