Critical Theories and Foucauldian Notion of Resistance - Essay Example

Arab Spring, Critical theories and Foucauldian notion of resistance (s) Arab Spring, Critical theories and Foucauldian notion of resistance Introduction Arab spring generally refers to the recent wave of rebellions, protests and revolutions which were experienced in most Arab countries. The wide spread protests were sparked by the success of the Tunisian revolt which brought down the oppressive regime. The revolt quickly spread to the other Arab countries which were also under repressive regimes (Cole and Shahin, 2011, p.4). Some of the countries in which the Arab spring successfully resulted in the toppling of the repressive regimes include Libya, Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt. In almost all the Arab countries which were affected, the protestors used common ways of civil resistance such as demonstrations, strikes, peaceful rallies and marches as well as the use of social media platforms to mobilize, raise awareness, organize and enhance coordination between the protestors. Most of the demonstrations were often met with violent repression from the regimes which they sought to challenge. For example in places like Libya, the Gaddafi regime used counter demonstration attacks in its attempt to crush the popular revolt. In an attempt to understand the causes of the recent Arab spring across most Middle Eastern countries, many researchers have increasingly adopted both the use of the concept of emancipation as well as the Foucauldian notion of resistance. According to Leonard (1990, p. 126), critical theory is defined as a critique to the social injustices which result from capitalism, misappropriation of public resources and the commoditification of our contemporary society. Critical theories attempt to explain the present social conditions, how such conditions have transformed as well as how they maintain their validity in the changing society. On the other hand, Foucauldian notion of resistance suggests that resistance such as the events witnessed during the Arab spring are largely a reaction to the domination and pervasive power. According to Foucault, there can be no power without resistance. This paper critically analyzes the critical theories with particular focus on the use of Foucauldian notion of resistance as opposed to the concept of emancipation in the critical theory. The concepts of resistance and emancipation The two concepts of resistance and emancipation are closely related in that they both attempt to explain the attempts by individuals and societies to minimize domination, achieve equality as well as the efforts to achieve more political and social rights. There are however a number of differences between Foucauldian notion of resistance and the concept of emancipation. As opposed to resistance, the concept of emancipation is particularly used to refer to the activities of disenfranchised groups who seek to regain equality and freedom in specific matters such as religion, law and the individual freedoms of people (Jones, 2005, p.15). With particular focus to the concept of emancipation in the assessment of the Arab spring, critical theorists argue that the major cause of popular revolts and uprisings such as those witnessed during the Arab spring is the need by the oppressed to emancipate themselves and achieve freedom from the circumstances which have enslaved them (Gill, 2002, p. 22). In this regard, the critical knowledge such as the ability to use social media in the mobilization of support are some of the factors which enable oppressed individuals to emancipate themselves from the oppressive regimes (Sklair, L.2002, p.78). It is however worth noting that most of the Arab countries which experienced the type of complete domination that would warrant the need for emancipation. On the other hand, resistance is often directed against domination and power and is mostly shaped by the social constraints those results from domination of particular social groups by those in authority (Foucault, M. 1982, p. 23). This is particularly with regard to the fact that every society has its own universal principles and any interference with these principles will result in resistance. According to critical theories, resistance may stem from domination by authorities that are accompanied by social economic injustices such as corruption, corporate capitalism. For example there is always a belief in the societies that any one who holds power and knowledge can maintain his hegemony over the other individuals. Horkheimer (2008, p. 23) also concurs that power is the main resource that enables the ruling elite to dominate over the others and sometimes oppress them to achieve their persona objectives. In this regard, power is largely considered as an ability of an individual to control other people with their consent. In other cases like the Libyan situation, power was used in form of violence against the peaceful protesters to suppress their rebellion. In the context of critical theories of resistance,, the Arab spring may have been an attempt by the citizens of Arab countries to liberate themselves from the circumstances that have previously enslaved them. Consequently social theorists are largely concerned with examining the social structures that have resulted in the domination and oppression of other members of the society. For example many critical social analysts argue that the lives and experiences of the people in context can be used to explain the reasons that have resulted in their oppression and domination by the others particularly the ruling class. Foucault’s notion of resistance also examines the relationship between knowledge and power in the societies to help in the understanding of the various actions that may be taken by the oppressed to free themselves from the dominant oppressive forces. For example to minimize the possibility of resistance, some regimes often resort to strict control of the media and other sources of knowledge. Generally resistance often occur inform of armed conflicts or non violent means of civil disobedience such as demonstrations, strikes, peaceful rallies and marches as well as the use of social media to mobilize support (Brown, 1994, p.222). For example after being inspired what the Tunisian revolution, hundreds of thousands of Egyptians decided to take to the streets in a mass protest to demand for the resignation of the former regime of President Hosni Mubarak. To effectively understand the reasons behind the recent popular revolutions across the Arab world in the context of critical theory, it is important for analysts to study the interests of the oppressed and the people who are opposed to the dominant social order. Consequently by analyzing the clash between the competing interests of the oppressed and their rulers, critical theorists can effectively explain the various ways through which such conflicts can be addressed (Horkheimer, 2008, p.94). Arab spring and the concept of resistance With regard to contemporary international relations, the Arab spring is closely related with the critical theory concept of post modernism. According to Steve (2000, p.74), there can never be a universal criterion for determining knowledge, freedom and progress but rather the social world is viewed in the context of its plurality. The critique of the events that resulted in the Arab revolutions is based on the context of the new conservatism of the dominant cultures in the Arab world. Critical theories generally can not be used to effectively examine the events leading to Arab spring. According to Chin and Mittelman (2000,p.36), critical theories offers a number of concepts that seek to explain the oppression and domination of some social groups by others as well as the struggle to achieve freedom to overcome such oppressions. Some of the basic concepts found in the critical theories include democracy, emancipation and the concept of justice equality (Gill, 2002, p. 56). Many analysts concur that Arab spring was not an emancipatory resistance but was rather a reaction to the historical injustices and an attempt by the citizens of the Arab countries to achieve greater civil liberties and freedom (Goode, 2005, p. 42). The concept of emancipation is also based on the assumption that resistance often results from political marginalization as well as consistent abuse of the universal freedoms and rights of the members of the particular society (Jones, 2005, p.47). Although the primary reason for the wide spread protests during the Arab spring were sparked by the success of the Tunisian revolt. The revolt quickly spread to the other Arab countries as a result of the repression and lack of freedom particularly under the repressive regimes, there was never universal abuse of human rights. In this context, the critical theory concept of emancipation fails to effectively address the route cause of the recent Arab revolutions. On the other hand, Foucauldian notion of resistance offers a critical analysis of the possible causes of resistances such as the popular revolts during the Arab spring. Foucault’s theory is however based on the relations of power and knowledge in societies and how the oppressed members of the society can acquire the knowledge and free themselves from the forces of oppression (Foucault, 1977, p.46). For example, it can be argued that the Arab revolts were particularly enhanced by the knowledge and use of modern technologies such as social media platforms like You Tube, Facebook and blogging sites. For example the Egyptian revolution was particularly motivated by the success of the Tunisian revolt as well as the activities of the human rights activists and other civil groups, who used various social media sites to effectively mobilize popular support, raise awareness, organize and enhance coordination between the protestors. Foucault’s theory is also based on an assessment of the transformations in societies as a result of the dynamics of power and knowledge. Foucault (1982, p.97) suggests that sometimes power may be negatively used by dominant groups in the society to oppress the minority members through various mechanisms such as censorship, law, taboo and other justifications. Consequently in the context of Foucault’s notion of resistance, societies may experience popular uprisings and revolts as a result of being oppressed by the few who use centralized power to maintain absolute control on the particular societies using both violence and threats. In this context, Foucauldian notion provides the most effective approach to the assessment of the conditions that caused the Arab spring as opposed to the critical theory concept of emancipation. Prior to the recent popular uprisings, most of the regimes in the Arab world used institutionalized absolute power to achieve absolute control over their citizens. For example in most Arab governments, the executive had enormous powers over the other arms of government. This is particularly evidenced by the level of brutality which was used against the protesters during the initial stages of the protests particularly in Libya and Egypt as well as in the current Syrian revolt. Similarly in the other Arab countries where the Arab spring did not result in the toppling of the regimes, most of the demonstrations were often met with violent repression from the regimes which they were protesting against. The oppressive regime used counter demonstration attacks in its attempt to crush the popular revolt. There was also widespread use of surveillance of the activities of the ordinary citizens for example through censorship of the communication between the citizens particularly over the internet. According to Foucauldian notion of resistance such surveillance are intended to limit the accessibility of the ordinary citizens to knowledge since knowledge will enable them to achieve power and resist the domination by the autocratic regimes (Foucault, 1982, p.208). On the other hand, the brutality of the security officers towards the protesters was also used by those in power as a tool to make their subjects more docile and manipulate their bodies into submission. Foucault (1977, p.201) further argues that the constant surveillance is also commonly used by the oppressive regimes to achieve some form of psychological manipulation where by the individuals gradually internalize the surveillance and conform to the wishes of those in authority. On the other hand, Foucault’s notion of oppression through the use of judicial power is also evident as one of the conditions which resulted in the Arab revolutions. For example some of the Arab regimes achieved complete social control of their societies through the use of laws and religious norms which were designed to subdue individuals as well as limit their freedoms. According to Foucault (1977, p.142), the resistance to power and domination such as those witnessed during the Arab spring may occur as an attempt by the oppressed to ensure more freedom rather than to achieve total emancipation from the power as proposed by the critical theory concept of emancipation. According to this argument, the Arab revolutions may have been precipitated by the need to fight against the limitations imposed on the populations by the power machinery used by those in power to control them. Characterization of identity is also a powerful tool often used by the dominant members of the society to achieve power over others. According to Constantinou and Der Derian (2010, p. 3), the notion of resistance is based on the premise that most of the dominant social groups in the society often employ the use of cultural and religious norms to control the other members of the society by assigning them imaginary identities that may limit their freedoms and acquisition of knowledge. For example throughout the Arab world, women have been marginalized and oppressed through the use of cultural and religious norms which are often disguised as gender identities. In other cases, the masses are sometimes manipulated into submission through the popular cultures and consumption to divert their attention from the circumstances they are facing (Adorno and Horkheimer, 1994, p. 138). Resistance to such kinds of domination was particularly evidenced in the Arab revolutions by the active participation of women in during the popular revolts. In Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya as well as in the current Syrian revolution, women have played a significant role by working together with their male counterparts to achieve freedom. Conclusion In conclusion, Foucauldian notion of resistance argues that resistances such as the Arab spring are largely as a result of the attempts by the oppressed members of the society to achieve more freedom and reject the forces of oppression. On the other hand, the concept of emancipation which seems to suggest that such resistances meant for emancipatory purposes. Generally there were no situations in during the revolts which demanded emancipation and therefore the Arab spring can best be assessed using Foucauldian notion of resistance. References Adorno, T. W. & Horkheimer, M.1994.The Culture Industry: Enlightenment as Mass Deception. Dialectic of Enlightenment. New York: Continuum, pp. 120-168. 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