foucault on slavery and politics --Psych/physical tools?

From: IRAJ IMAM (iimam@cal-research.org)
Date: Tue Mar 22 2005 - 09:56:24 PST


"a stupid despot may constrain his slaves with iron chains; but a true
politician binds them even more strongly by the chain of thier own
ideas....this link is all the stronger in that we do not know of what
it is made and we believe it to be our own work."

-----
Thanks Mike for sharing.

This is a good example of utilizing [your] categories of 'physical' and
'psychological' tools, and evaluating their effectiveness from the stand
point of ruling over people. Two social technologies of control: Capture
their body by physical force and assuming that the mind is captured too (eg,
use of torture). Or, capturing their minds and assuming that their bodies
will follow (eg, advertisements/propaganda of all sorts). In fact, all
social spaces use both technologies.

Looking at it spatially, the question becomes 'where' to start--from the
physical/real space or the virtual/imagined space of people. Since both
spaces are interconnected in our activities, the question then becomes about
learning (and performing). Perhaps similar 'learning' targets and social
technologies are involved in empowering and in enslaving.

One tends to destroy the old learning and produce a new one in an empowering
social space. The other also tends to destroy the existing and substituting
it with a new learning. the difference is the former is open and
reflective--thus empowering and self-determined. The other has to remain
seductive, hidden, and must produce a deceptive space in order to work. But
it needs to produce two spaces: one that appears self-determined to the
'user' while the other is producing a captured (but hidden) social space
(eg, The Matrix).

This just seemed related to the prior discussion about
'empowering/enslaving' learning spaces in classrooms.

iraj imam

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