Power, Subjectivity and Resistance in the Thought of Simone Weil and Michel Foucault
Publication Type |
Book Chapter |
Year of Publication |
2010 |
Author |
|
Editor |
Rozelle-Stone, Rebecca Stone, Lucian |
Book |
The Relevance of the Radical: Simone Weil 100 Years Later |
Pages |
176-192 |
Publisher |
Continuum |
Place Published |
New York |
Language |
English |
Chapter |
11 |
Keywords |
force |
Annotation |
As indicated by the title, the authors compare the work of Simone Weil on 'power, subjectivity and resistance' to that of the French philosopher Michel Foucault. They begin by responding to what they conceive as possible objections to such a comparison. They then move on to discuss Weil's notion of necessity in relation to Foucault's notion of history especially his analysis of power throughout history. They continue by noting points of agreement in Weil's and Foucault's work on the relationship between power and knowledge, arguing although they took very different routes, both Weil and Foucault end up in what the author's see Weil articulating as a "...profound identity between necessity and the collective formation of social structures and individual identities" (p. 183). They next present a number of other 'points of commonality' between Weil and Foucault including, a "distrust of humanism", interest in "disciplinary techniques", "skepticism regarding juridical models of power" and in greater depth, a "shared experience of human life as a place of imprisonment" (p. 183). Both Weil and Foucault seek, according to the authors, an "authentic political spirituality" (p. 190). In the final pages of the chapter, the authors reflect further on the role of power in the thought of these two philosophers comparing Weil's concept of 'social necessity' to Foucault's 'power relations'. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the transcendent in Weil's and Foucault's work. |