What is the Relationship Between Power and Knowledge?

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12EUB605 What is the relationship between power and knowledge?

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Cottrill, T. B117019

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

Foucaultsdefinition 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.2It 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

1Bacon, F. Religious Meditations, Of Heresies, 1597

2Collins 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.2654Weber, M. in Roscigno, V. Power Revisited, Social Forces, Vol.90, no.2, p.350


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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.

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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 countriesproblems through technical innovation and the use of knowledge

brokers9, it unavoidably involves political issues *and+ promotes social change...

10This 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

5Hay, C. and Spencer, N. In Marsh, D. and Stoker, G. Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3

rded. (Palgrave

MacMillan, 2010), pp. 187-1886Marsh, D. And Stoker, G. Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3

rded. (Palgrave MacMillan, 2010), p.190

7Albright, D. and Hinderstein, C. Unraveling the A. Q. Khan and Future Proliferation Networks in The

Washington Quarterly, Vol.28, no.2 (Spring 2005), p.1118Hasan, M. There is no nuclear threatbut 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 CurrentAnthropology, Vol.39, no.2 (April 1998), p.23110

See note ^7


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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

11van Houten, H.Animal Health: best practices from FARM-Africas Pastoralist Development Project in Kenya,

(Colourprint, Nairobi, Kenya. 2002), p.412

On the Right Application of Knowledge, as a Power of Great Magnitude in The Belfast Monthly Magazine,

Vol.8, no.47, p.44913

See note ^1014Marsh and Stoker, p.190

15See note ^12


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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 knowledgethat 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 Indiait 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

16Smart, B. Michel Foucault, (Routledge, London, 1988), p.79

17

Sillitoe, p.23218See note ^15

19The theory was taught on the GCSE Geography curriculum when I was in high school from 2001-2006


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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

20Smart, p.70

21Foucault, M. in Smart, B. Michel Foucault, (Routledge, London, 1988), pp.69-70

22See note ^19

23

Smart, p.6924Townley, B. Foucault, Power/Knowledge, and Its Relevance for Human Resource Management inThe

Academy of Management Review, Vol.18, no.3 (July 1993), p.521


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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.

25

See note ^1826See note ^22

27See note ^19


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Bibliography

Albright, D. and Hinderstein, C. Unraveling the A. Q. Khan and Future ProliferationNetworks 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 threatbut 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,3

rded. (Palgrave MacMillan, 2010)

Houten, van, H.Animal Health: best practices from FARM-Africas Pastoralist DevelopmentProject in Kenya, (Colourprint, Nairobi, Kenya. 2002)

Keltner, D. Gruenfeld, D. and Anderson, C. Power, Approach and Inhibition, PsychologicalReview, Vol.110, no.2 (April 2003), pp.265-284

Marsh, D. And Stoker, G. Theory and Methods in Political Science, 3rded. (PalgraveMacMillan, 2010)

On the Right Application of Knowledge, as a Power of Great Magnitude in The BelfastMonthly Magazine, Vol.8, no.47, pp.448-451

Sillitoe, P. The Development of Indigenous Knowledge: A New Applied Anthropology inCurrent 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 inThe 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

What is the Relationship Between Power and Knowledge?

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