GSFS 250 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Radical Feminism, Judith Butler, Identity Politics
4 Jun 2018
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Lecture 5:
Performed vs performative
Top down power model- power comes from above
Foucault challenges this
Both power systems are located inside institutions
Like for example medical boards dictating over hospital management, doctors, nurses, etc.
That’s institutionalized power
But Foucault says power isn’t in an institution and that it’s a power relationship
Operates at micro levels of relationships and is in the social body
Power is everywhere because it comes from everywhere
Very messy- more complicated than top down
So in the health realm for example- we have prisons to put the “unhealthy people”, schools to
make you a healthy individual, stop signs in the streets, you have the government, the police- all
seen in making a healthy society and regulate= different power influencers
All of this becomes a messy web of how power is interactive
What is a downside if you’re an activist if it looks that messy?
How is that model of power harder to deal with?
Power is everywhere so where do I have to fight?
But Foucault says if power is everywhere then resistance is everywhere too
Foucault is also known for this concept-
We say sexuality is repressed and how we never talk about it but actually we’re talking about it
all the time
So when we’re talking about repressing and confession- we’re talking about sex all the time
How to signs make meaning to us?
Not just logos but how how does wearing a vest signify something?
So hipster and beards- why does the beard say hipster?
Every sign is divided into 2 parts
The signifier- the beard
And the signified- what the beard means
Signs are arbitrary- it’s just a beard but we put meaning to it
Nothing inherent about the beard
So signs aren’t labels for real things- they constitute reality
Signs make meaning because of difference- you’re either bearded or not
If everyone in the world had a beard, it would not have meaning
A paradime of available options-
Structuralism-
Analyzing culture
A way to understand how society is structured through different symbols
Ideas of signs making meaning gets taken into all fields
But some French thinkers in the 70s decided structuralism was over
find more resources at oneclass.com
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Document Summary
Top down power model- power comes from above. Like for example medical boards dictating over hospital management, doctors, nurses, etc. But foucault says power isn"t in an institution and that it"s a power relationship. Operates at micro levels of relationships and is in the social body. Power is everywhere because it comes from everywhere. All of this becomes a messy web of how power is interactive. But foucault says if power is everywhere then resistance is everywhere too. We say sexuality is repressed and how we never talk about it but actually we"re talking about it all the time. So when we"re talking about repressing and confession- we"re talking about sex all the time. Signs are arbitrary- it"s just a beard but we put meaning to it. So signs aren"t labels for real things- they constitute reality. Signs make meaning because of difference- you"re either bearded or not.
