Week 3 Blog
Foucault's version of how power works (power as productive) seems to make a lot of sense in a way. It combines Marx's idea of power, that power is a materialistic thing, and takes it a step further and adds the power of knowledge to that. In essence, knowledge is power. People in general spend a lot of time searching to find that answer to why this thing works or why this thing happened. Once they come up with an answer to the question, whether that answer is right or not, they seem to gain more power. For example, if someone were to suddenly find the answer to why people get cancer or find a cure to it or something, that person will find a sudden increase in the amount of power they have in society. This is linked with Marx's idea of power in the sense that much of the time people will get money for that answering those kinds of questions.
This 'power as productive' that Foucault talks about is seen both very strongly in the past (for example, what are things made of, what are atoms, and all other scientific questions and discourses that were explained and gave those scientists more power along with paving the way for more theories to be discovered, debated, and answered) and in the present (for example, all the debate about global warming). On a more personal scale you can gain power by simply solving a disagreement between friends. Those friends will respect you more and you gain power that way therefore proving Foucault's power theory.