Answers to the gaze: A genealogical poaching of resistances

Because of Foucault's many insights on power, we are now better able to understand how discourse plays a central role in social relations and power dynamics. Central to Foucault's theory concerning the power‐knowledge‐discourse dialectic is the idea that for every force there is resistance. However, his notion of “resistance” is very obscure and for the most part neglected in most of his writing. This analysis offers a slightly different genealogy of resistances, a selective history of disobedience which seeks to improve on Foucault's strategy of genealogy at the same time that it fills the gap left by his inattention to what he deems to be an essential aspect of power. By utilizing de Certeau's concept of “textual poaching,” I present a new genealogy, one which better suggests what resistance might look like in the age of postmodern power dynamics.