Haase_UZ_x007E_DTh (2).pdf - South African Theological Seminary

Foucault also seemed to delight in the marginalized. Once asked why he so often dealt
with obscure personalities in his writings instead of mainstream thinkers, he replied:
I deal with obscure figures and processes for two
reasons: The political and social processes by
which the Western European societies were put
in order are not very apparent, have been
forgotten, or have become habitual. They are
part of our most familiar landscape, and we
don’t perceive them anymore. But most of them
once scandalized people. It is one of my targets
to show people that a lot of things that are part
of their landscape -- that people are universal --
are the result of some very precise historical
changes. All my analyses are against the idea
of universal necessities in human existence.
They show the arbitrariness of institutions and
show which space of freedom we can still enjoy
and how many changes can still be made
(Foucault, in Martin, 1988:9-15).
Foucault said many marginalized voices are not heard because the people who have
power, also control access to information, communications and government. Totalitarian
governments are an extreme example, as they suppress and repress those who otherwise
might differ with government positions and policies. For Foucault, the “truth is that
which is established by those who have the power to do so” (Erickson, 2002:47). The
Ceaucescu government of former Communist Romania is a classic example of
government silencing its critics, and marginalizing those who differ with them. Those
who object too loudly, are imprisoned, or killed. Governments have ways of justifying
these practices, even in their own minds, sometimes using religion to legitimate their
positions and actions, but surely, that does not make them right. Foucault further
suggests that those who have power, in government, or religion, for instance, sometimes
coercively set the boundaries of normative behaviour. Government officials may, or may
not be right; but since they have power, they can establish laws and enforce them upon
others. About his use of the word, governmentality, Foucault said:
I would now like to start looking at that
dimension which I have called by that rather
nasty word ‘govern mentality.’ Let us suppose
that ‘governing’ is not the same thing as
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University of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa