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What is the relationship between power and knowledge?

What is the relationship between power and knowledge? Ask anyone this question, and they will likely repeat the well known phrase coined by Sir Francis Bacon in 1597: knowledge is power1. However, Sir Francis Bacon was talking about the relationship between the two within the natural sciences. The relationship within the social sciences is less clear and I contend that it depends broadly upon ones ontological position. This essay will define the terms power and knowledge; examine how ontological foundationalists and anti-foundationalists see the relationship between the two; and explore how the prominent philosopher Michel Foucaults definition of power provides us with a different relationship between power and knowledge.

Of the two terms, knowledge is the least contentious to define, and for the purposes of my essay it will be the facts or experiences known by a person or group of people.2 It is important to note that knowledge is not to be confused with being objective truth; knowledge is perceived to be truth by the individual who holds it, despite what others may know at the time or later. For example, it was common knowledge for the majority of English citizens during the 1600s that Kings were given their power to rule by God (known as divine right). We now know that that wasnt the case, but at the time it was believed to be true and therefore constituted knowledge. Power is a more difficult concept to define and is still debated. In this essay, power will be defined as: an individuals relative capacity to modify others states by providing or withholding resources or administering punishments,3 with the addition from Max Weber of even against the will of others.4

A persons ontological position affects the perceived relationship between power and knowledge as it determines what we can know about the world we live in. Is there an independent, objective

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Bacon, F. Religious Meditations, Of Heresies, 1597 Collins Concise Dictionary of the English Language, ed. McLeod, W. (Guild Publishing, London, 1985), p.623 3 Keltner, D. Gruenfeld, D. and Anderson, C. Power, Approach and Inhibition, Psychological Review, Vol.110, no.2 (April 2003), p.265 4 Weber, M. in Roscigno, V. Power Revisited, Social Forces, Vol.90, no.2, p.350

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What is the relationship between power and knowledge?

reality of which we can gain knowledge (foundationalism), or is reality socially constructed and therefore our knowledge is subjective (anti-foundationalism)? A persons epistemological view will also influence the relationship, but as ontology arguably precedes epistemology5, we can examine the fundamental relationship between power and knowledge by looking at the two ontological positions.

The foundationalist ontological view (also known as realism or objectivism) posits that the world is composed of discrete objects which possess properties that are independent of the observer/researcher.6 As we can have knowledge of these absolute truths, that knowledge will empower the holder. Within the natural sciences, as Bacon declared, it is clear to see that knowledge is power. The invention of nuclear weapons is the ultimate example of this. Iran bought the knowledge of how to build nuclear weapons from A.Q. Khan: Without assistance from the network, it is unlikely that Iran would have been able to develop the ability to enrich uranium using gas centrifugesnow that countrys most advanced and threatening nuclear program.7 This new knowledge has in turn increased their power in the Middle East8. An example from the social sciences can be found in international development. When developed countries aim to help solve less developed countries problems through technical innovation and the use of knowledge brokers9, it unavoidably involves political issues *and+ promotes social change...10 This social change, according to Sillitoe, comes from the empowerment caused by the new knowledge being given to certain people, often the very poor, to overcome their problems. Initiatives, such as the
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Hay, C. and Spencer, N. In Marsh, D. and Stoker, G. Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3 ed. (Palgrave MacMillan, 2010), pp. 187-188 6 rd Marsh, D. And Stoker, G. Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3 ed. (Palgrave MacMillan, 2010), p.190 7 Albright, D. and Hinderstein, C. Unraveling the A. Q. Khan and Future Proliferation Networks in The Washington Quarterly, Vol.28, no.2 (Spring 2005), p.111 8 Hasan, M. There is no nuclear threat but if we attack Iran, there soon will be http://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2011/11/nuclear-weapons-iran-israel (01/01/13) 9 Sillitoe, P. The Development of Indigenous Knowledge: A New Applied Anthropology in Current Anthropology, Vol.39, no.2 (April 1998), p.231 10 See note ^7

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What is the relationship between power and knowledge?

British NGO FARM-Africa, seek to enable the poor to become self-sustainable by giving them the knowledge to *manage+ their renewable natural resources more effectively.11 Going back to my definition of power, the poor would be empowered as they would now have resources that they could provide/withhold to/from others; they wouldnt be reliant on the provision of these resources by the government, reducing the governments power; and the knowledge held by the more developed countries gives them the power to effect social and political change in less developed countries. An article in the Belfast Monthly Magazine takes the concept of knowledge is power further, arguing that knowledge is the mere machine... like the inert mass, which, although capable of being brought into action, has no power till the machinery is properly applied.12 This implies that knowledge does create power, but only when that knowledge is properly applied: Knowledge... is only worth possessing so far as it leads to beneficial results.13 So we can see that the foundationalist view of the relationship between power and knowledge is that, when properly applied, knowledge creates power.

Anti-foundationalists have different assumptions about reality. They believe that realities are local and specific; they vary between individuals/groups and that reality is not discovered..., rather it is actively constructed.14 When it comes to physical reality, such as mountains, chairs, etc, rather than questioning their existence, the assumption is that they physically exist but have no causal power or influence independent of the individuals perception of them. Whilst it is the individual who constructs their own reality, their views are shaped by social, political and cultural processes.15 This being the case, it is easy to identify that it is those with power and influence that create or influence an individuals perception of reality, and therefore their knowledge. Michel Foucault

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van Houten, H. Animal Health: best practices from FARM-Africas Pastoralist Development Project in Kenya , (Colourprint, Nairobi, Kenya. 2002), p.4 12 On the Right Application of Knowledge, as a Power of Great Magnitude in The Belfast Monthly Magazine, Vol.8, no.47, p.449 13 See note ^10 14 Marsh and Stoker, p.190 15 See note ^12

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What is the relationship between power and knowledge?

identified this happening when he studied the penal system. The authorities exercised their power over the criminal by using torture to make the criminal confess to the crime. The accused would often confess to the crime whether they had done it or not in order to stop the torture. The use of power therefore created the knowledge that the criminal was guilty. Furthermore, it causes a cyclical relationship, as the confession of guilt legitimised the use of torture as a punishment, reinforcing the power of the authorities. The power-knowledge relationship identified in this example is applicable in a wider context as the disciplinary technology of power which emerged in the eighteenth century and developed rapidly in the nineteenth century...is not confined to prison; neither for that matter does it lie there...16 A modern example from the political realm can be found again in the developing world: In parts of Nepal, Thailand and India it is increasingly common for politically more powerful lowland communities to blame upland shifting cultivators for causing sedimentation and flooding through deforestation.17 However, Sillitoe says these judgements are based on sweeping assumptions not yet subject to scientific confirmation and make contentious suppositions...18 Despite this, due to the power of the lowland communities it is widely accepted in the West as fact that the deforestation in the upland communities causes flooding in the lowland communities.19 Anti-foundationalism, therefore, tells us that power creates knowledge, which can in turn reinforce the power. This form of the relationship is easily identifiable in China: government control of the publics knowledge through censorship cements the political elites position as the ones with the power.

It would not be right to discuss the relationship between power and knowledge without mentioning the work of the late French philosopher Michel Foucault (1926-1984). Through critical studies of social institutions, such as prisons, psychiatry and the human sciences, he developed a different
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Smart, B. Michel Foucault, (Routledge, London, 1988), p.79 Sillitoe, p.232 18 See note ^15 19 The theory was taught on the GCSE Geography curriculum when I was in high school from 2001-2006

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What is the relationship between power and knowledge?

theory of power and knowledge. He did not conceive power to be a property or possession of a dominant class, state, or sovereign... but rather as a complex strategical situation, as a multiplicity of force relations...20 This different definition of power means that the relationship between power and knowledge changes drastically. He declared that power produces knowledge (and not simply by encouraging it because it serves power or by applying it because it is useful)...21 But he believed that the relationship was not that simple, going on to say: power and knowledge directly imply one another;...there is no power relation without the correlative constitution of a field of knowledge...22 From his study of the concept of power, it is clear that there can be no general formulation of the relationship between power and knowledge...23 Townley, in my opinion, best captures the relationship, saying: knowledge is not detached and independent; as a source of illumination, it is integral to the operation of power.24

In conclusion, the relationship between power and knowledge is entirely dependent upon the definition of power. If you consider power to be something that can be gained or lost by an individual, then when examined through the lens of foundationalism, this essay has identified that knowledge has the ability to empower, as it has through the work of NGOs acting as knowledge brokers in the developing world. On the other hand, anti-foundationalists perceive the relationship to be a cyclical one, where power gives the ability to control or create knowledge, which can in turn reinforce the source of power. This is evident in the examples from India and China provided earlier. Both ontological positions are rational perceptions of the relationship, and though they conflict, neither necessarily has to be wrong or any less valid than the other: if we use Foucaults concept of power, seeing it as something that is not held by one individual or another, but as a multiplicity of

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Smart, p.70 Foucault, M. in Smart, B. Michel Foucault, (Routledge, London, 1988), pp.69-70 22 See note ^19 23 Smart, p.69 24 Townley, B. Foucault, Power/Knowledge, and Its Relevance for Human Resource Management in The Academy of Management Review, Vol.18, no.3 (July 1993), p.521

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What is the relationship between power and knowledge?

force relations25 between individuals, then the two ontological positions exist in harmony. Knowledge is power, as it is integral to the operation of power26; and power is knowledge, as power produces knowledge...27 The relationship, I believe, can be formulated no further than that.

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See note ^18 See note ^22 27 See note ^19

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Bibliography Albright, D. and Hinderstein, C. Unraveling the A. Q. Khan and Future Proliferation Networks in The Washington Quarterly, Vol.28, no.2 (Spring 2005), pp.111-128 Bacon, F. Religious Meditations, Of Heresies, 1597 Collins Concise Dictionary of the English Language, ed. McLeod, W. (Guild Publishing, London, 1985) Foucault, M. in Smart, B. Michel Foucault, (Routledge, London, 1988) Hasan, M. There is no nuclear threat but if we attack Iran, there soon will be http://www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2011/11/nuclear-weapons-iran-israel (01/01/13) Hay, C. and Spencer, N. in Marsh, D. and Stoker, G. Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3rd ed. (Palgrave MacMillan, 2010) Houten, van, H. Animal Health: best practices from FARM-Africas Pastoralist Development Project in Kenya, (Colourprint, Nairobi, Kenya. 2002) Keltner, D. Gruenfeld, D. and Anderson, C. Power, Approach and Inhibition, Psychological Review, Vol.110, no.2 (April 2003), pp.265-284 Marsh, D. And Stoker, G. Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3rd ed. (Palgrave MacMillan, 2010) On the Right Application of Knowledge, as a Power of Great Magnitude in The Belfast Monthly Magazine, Vol.8, no.47, pp.448-451 Sillitoe, P. The Development of Indigenous Knowledge: A New Applied Anthropology in Current Anthropology, Vol.39, no.2 (April 1998), pp.223-252 Smart, B. Michel Foucault, (Routledge, London, 1988) Townley, B. Foucault, Power/Knowledge, and Its Relevance for Human Resource Management in The Academy of Management Review, Vol.18, no.3 (July 1993), pp.518-545 Weber, M. in Roscigno, V. Power Revisited, Social Forces, Vol.90, no.2, pp.349-374

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