Power Relation in the Thought of Michel Foucault

Argument concerning the meaning of power is one of the most controversial issues in the thought of thinkers such as Michel Foucault. Foucault and his like-mined thinkers, with their departure from conventionally held opinion about power, believe that power does not reside only in the formal structures of politics but it is also in the whole fabric of society. Foucault himself points out that he intends to suggest a shorter way that would make us better understand the meaning of, as he puts it, “new economic of power relations”. His suggested method is more experimental, having closer relation with our current situation and guaranteeing the connection between theory and practice. In this article, it is tried to investigate the origin of Foucault’s thoughts as one of the influential thinkers of th century, and then analyze the concept of power and its relation to liberty and knowledge as expressed by Foucault.