On the Analysis Method of Materiality in Foucault’s Microphisics of Power

Abstract

The article is devoted to the method of materiality analysis formulated by Michel Foucault in the three courses taught at the Collège de France in the late 1970s. The rules of the method bring Foucault’s approach closer to research in science and technology and the actor-network theory. The mutual interest of STS and Fucoldianism is connected, on the one hand, with the weak conceptualization of power, and, on the other hand, with the understanding of power through technology. "After Foucault,” technology is understood either as a set of rules, or as a manifestation of the concepts of Fucoldianism. The materiality of technology remains beyond the attention of researchers. For the explication of the rules, it is proposed to return "back to Foucault” and clear the legacy of the French philosopher from transatlantic interpretations based on "social explanation”. The rules of the method set forth by the French philosopher in the courses create the following ontology of power. First, we are talking about the design, power is created by the actors, but at the same time can’t be appropriated once and for all; the possibilities of its creation and transfer are limited. Secondly, it is necessary to talk about the analysis of specific changing objects-subjects, and not about universals. Third, that the analyzed phenomena of power always have a local character, rooting in specific conditions of place and time. Fourth, Foucault emphasizes the multiplicity and discreteness of power. Finally, fifth, the contextuality and situational nature of power effects and relations is crucial. All this shows that, within the framework of his method of analyzing and understanding reality as a material, Michel Foucault is very close to research into science and technology (STS), in which reality is a multiple, heterogeneous and local construction created by actors from specific materials using tools that provide resistance at creation and after construction.