What are the main features of Foucault's conception of power?

Answer 1

Foucault argued that power is multi-directional. He challenged the ideas of modernity and structuralism. Foucault believed that much of power is internalized and that individuals constantly exert agency over their own lives and bodies, usually producing "docile bodies." In this way, the state or ruling class need not always use overt forms of force or oppression. Foucault proposed the notion of the panopticon, or the prison in which those in cells can be viewed constantly from every angle. He argued that society functions in this way, but that our very own eyes become the like the eyes of the prison guard, incessantly surveying ourselves through a lens of power.