Monday, August 14, 2006

Where Am I and Where Am I Going?

Not an ontological question, but a practical one. So, to reiterate, I am here:

1. Power becomes apparent in action, interaction and relations between people and networks.

2. Actions congeal into practice and thence into procedure and process.

3. This becomes the basis of (a) social organisation and what Foucault refers to as 'instutional crystallisations', providing a context for future action.

4. Modes of organisational power emerge out of actions beneath the surface of these crystallisations or congealments that reinforce, challenge and cut through existing states-of-play. This is the aspect of relations of power that is constantly shifting and circulating.

5. Relations affecting the shape of organisational power may also be ones that run over the boundaries of particular institutional crystallisations. This is particularly important for political party relations with the state, the electorate, the media and so on.


6. These modes of power develop through concrete, specific and contingent events rather than historical imperative or ontological necessity.

7. A specifically modern form of power, as related by both Foucault and Weber (albeit with slightly different points in mind) is 'disciplinary' power, which has had particular affects on the organisation of political parties and thus the practice of formal politics.


And I am going here, I think:

1. To define this specifically modern form of power.

2. To trace its emergence in the formal party political context, making use of examples.

3. To discuss how it has changed or how it is different from the definitions respectively set out by Weber and Foucault.

4. To assess its impact on the practice and the investigation of party politics and government.

Now all I need is the beginnings of a route there....

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