Abstract
Understanding a concept as complex as power, in the social sciences, can often be a daunting task. In order to fully comprehend power, it is therefore necessary to examine it through the lens of other issues and theoretical devices. In this paper, power is approached through an examination of surveillance and associated technologies. Utilizing the theoretical work of Michel Foucault, and stepping beyond this basic groundwork, we explore the contentions surrounding the study of power within sociology, the ways in which surveillance constitutes and even threatens structures of power. The paper concludes with an analysis of inequality, welfare and the state, in order to demonstrate the benefits of applying power through the lens of surveillance, and in this way helping to enrich our understanding of the role that power plays in our social world.
Recommended Citation
Purdy, Simon
(2015)
"Surveillance, Knowledge and Inequality: Understanding Power Through Foucault and Beyond.,"
The Hilltop Review: Vol. 8:
Iss.
1, Article 3.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/hilltopreview/vol8/iss1/3
Included in
Inequality and Stratification Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons, Theory, Knowledge and Science Commons
