-Focault in interested in the ways in which knowledge, language and culture operates in society.
· Focault seeks to develop an approach to power which departs from the conventional perspectives found in sociology.
· -Conventional perspectives e.g. Karl Marx or Max Weber.
-Focault understands social relationships as much less permanent or stable and influenced very strongly by patterns of language or discourse which he believes organize the way in which we relate to each other.
General discourses:
The difference between heterosexual and homosexual
Huts and houses
Tribal war and civil war
The case in Eritrea:
They consider Markus as an expert, because he is white, and therefor very different and caries a lot of authority. The fact that Markus was inside the classroom showed the relationship in power because all the students showed great attention towards him because he is white.
Because Markus was wearing a camera, it could give an expression to the locals that he was very rich, at least from their point of view.
The local teacher uses his confidence as a teacher in a positive way. He uses his power as a teacher to make the children locate some stones outside and find the window in the classroom. This exercise expands their vocabulary.
For the Eritrean teacher Markus is seen as someone who can help him develop his teaching methods. The Indian teacher sees Markus as someone who can recommend him for a better job.
The relationship between the teacher and the pupils in the Eritrean school is quite good. The teacher has power in the way that they obey his orders, if he e.g. wants them to go fetch some stones, they do it.
The Indian teacher doesn’t seem to have the same effect on his class. They are sleeping in class, and some of them don’t even understand what he is going through on the blackboard.
The relationship between all the teachers at in the first case and Markus is perhaps quite fine. They seem like they want him to give some feedback and become better at teaching. There is a problem when Markus discovers some of the local teachers have some materials for punishing the pupils, and tries to bring the subject among the locals.
