Foucauldian Theory of Power Relations in the African Milieu

Foucault is a thinker, postmodernist and post structuralist. Foucault has been highly influential in shaping understandings of power, and he uses power as an instrument of coercion. The notion of power is central to his thinking. He looked at it through critical, historical perspectives. Foucault examines how various institutions exert their power on groups and individuals. Foucault’s concept has been widely used to critique development thinking. Power, as such encompasses many things including potential, dominance, ability, agency. Foucault breaks the concept of power and discusses various modes of power.