Knight,, D and Willmott(1989) ’Power and Subjecctivity at Work

On Foucault's writing:

His writing on power are apposite to our project because they directoly challenge and reject discourse founded upon the idea of a transcendental subject whose autonomy resides only in that space not yet colonised by political economy. Rejecting the essentialist view of human nature, subjectivity is understood as a product of disciplinary mechanisms, techniques of surveillance and power-knowledge strategies: human freedom is constituted through theier mediation of subjectivity. Through process of individualization, the activation of autonomy is seen to become preoccupied with discilining the self in ways that secure recognition and confirmation of significant others. Techinologies of power are embraced precisely because they seem capable of providing the security which theur very presence serves to problematise. The investiment of subjectivity in familiar sets of practices... inhabits the potential for disruption precisely by presenting it as a threat to our identity/sense of reality. Nontheless, stimulated by the individualisung effects of modern power regimes, there is always the possibilty of recognising and resisting the pwer induced technologies by which we are captured in our everyday grasping at the straws that confirm our sence of independence and importance.