Talk:Power-knowledge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article relies too heavily on sociological buzzwords. It's extrapolation of Foucault's idea is without any real conclusion but only seems to grace its most general aspects. This is coming from a reader not expert in Foucauldian thought. I was frustrated that the article danced around the centre without alighting on any concrete explanation. Please clarify!

can the word "power-knowledge" have anything to do with sorcery? or manipulation of people in power? Fegor 01:53, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

power-knowledge refers to the fact that when a word is defined, it automatically includes a group and automatically excludes a group. For example, when the word homosexual was invented by scientists, it automatically excluded heterosexuals from the meaning of the word, and in effect creating an accepted practice (heterosexuality) and an abnormal practice (homosexuality). The power to define and accept these terms and definitions lies in society, but the words themselves and their relations are invented by individuals. This placement of relational information exists in every form of human creation and are called discourses. These discourses provide information about what is in power and what is not. When describing these types of abstract ideas, sociological buzzwords are a necessity because they are very specific interactions that have to be well-defined. This article hardly dances around the subject, it is just a very difficult concept to explain concisely. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 128.206.63.181 (talk) 18:00, 7 May 2008 (UTC)