Assess the strengths and weaknesses of Foucault’s and Lukes’ respective conceptions of power

Order Description
– Font: Verdana 11pt
– Page numbers should appear in the footer of the essay, in the middle
– Political theory essay: use of 1st person is acceptable
– Important to place the concept in its historical contexts (tell what the conceptions are, different thinkers around the concepts)
– How is the concept explained by the people, and more importantly, what you think of the concepts?
– Avoid simply state something, need to show it through evaluation and analysis. Use examples to demonstrate the point. What is of primary importance is the quality of your reasoning and your understanding of the arguments and positions you discuss.
– Referencing: page number is preferred, if its a broad idea, no need for page number but a broader range of page number is preferred

– Structure of the Essay:
1. Introduction: around 400 words
2. Main body:
a. Context – situate the research question within its context and explain the relevance of this context (around 500 words)
b. Provide a brief outline of the key literature
Analyse the literature
Who has said what and why?
Do you agree? Justify your answer
Provide examples

Start bringing in your own argument and use examples to demonstrate and support it.

Always bring in the opposing side to your argument.

Demonstrate why your interpretation is stronger and more convincing.

*For Foucault’s weaknesses of his concept of power, could focus on Feminist’s criticism of this. If there is not much readings for this, could focus on other thinkers as well.

3. Conclusion: 400 words

Recommended readings (other readings will be upload later in my account)
Ball, T. (1992). New Faces of Power. In T. Wartenberg, Rethinking Power (pp. 14-31). New York: State University of New York Press.
Clegg, S. (1989). Post Structuralism, Sovereign Power and Disciplinary Power. London: Sage
Schattschneider, E. (1960). The Semi-Sovereign People: A Realist’s View of Democracy in America. New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Smart, B. (1994). The Politics of Truth and the Problem of Hegemony. In B. Smart, & B. Smart (Ed.), Michel Foucault (1) Critical Assessments (pp. 208-219). London: Routledge.
Wenman, M. A. (2005) – ‘Power’ in Political Concepts: A Reader and Guide. Iain Mackenzie (Ed.). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press
Boyne, R., 1990. Foucault And Derrida: The Other Side Of Reason. London: Unwin And Hyman
Callinicos, A., 1991. Against Postmodernism: A Marxist Critique. Oxford: Polity.
Power / Michel Foucault ; edited by James D. Faubion ; translated by Robert Hurley and others.
Feminism and the final Foucault / edited by Dianna Taylor and Karen Vintges.?
The forms of power : from domination to transformation / Thomas E. Wartenberg. – Critics on Luke’s
Foucault and classical antiquity : power, ethics, and knowledge / Wolfgang Detel
Up Against Foucault: Explorations of Some Tensions Between Foucault and Feminism / Caroline Ramazanoglu
Reassessing Foucault: Power, Medicine and the Body / Colin Jones, Roy Porter
Feminism, Foucault, and Embodied Subjectivit / Margaret A. McLaren

Online source:
Gaventa, J. (2011, January 10). Foucault: power is everywhere. Retrieved March 31, 2015, from Powercube: Understanding Power for Social Change LINK ONLINE http://www.powercube.net/other-forms-of-power/foucault-power-is-everywhere/
Gaventa, J. (2003, August 15). Power after Lukes: An overview of theories of power since Lukes and their application to development . Retrieved March 30, 2015, from PowerCube: http://www.powercube.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/power_after_lukes.pdf
Hitler, A. (1969). Why The Second Reich Collapsed;. In A. Hitler, Mein Kampf (pp. 191-234). London: Hutchinson. LINK ONLINE http://genius.com/Adolf-hitler-chapter-10-why-the-second-reich-collapsed-annotated
Lazzarato, M. (2006). From Biopower to Biopolitics . Tayloring Biotechnologie s , 2 (2), 11-20. LINK ONLINE http://www.generation-online.org/c/fcbiopolitics.htm
Lycos, K. (2009, January 11). Foucault, Freedoma and Truth Emergence. Retrieved May 3, 2015, from Living Pholosophy: Collected Papers and Essays of Kymon Lycos LINK ONLINE http://www.kimonlycos.org/unpublished/foucault-freedom-and-truth-emergence
Miller, F. (1998, July 1). Aristotle’s Political Theory. Retrieved March 30, 2015, from Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle-politics/

Only accept other online sources from credible academic article or journal (no newspaper, online news etc)