Gramsci/Foucault Kenrick Chiang

Both readings both revolve around the ideas of power. Gramsci, which in my opinion was a bit harder to grasp the main ideas of, was mostly about philosophies and hegemony that can be played in politics. Hegemony relates to an idea of leadership or dominance and it is something that we can see today. This ties into the idea of popular culture extremely well because popular culture is what dictates in our society what is deemed normal and what is abnormal. Gramsci also argues that philosophy is a tool that can be used by anyone rather than people of power. Gramsci draws ideas from Karl Marx, who strongly believes that there is a system of power. With the knowledge of power, people are then able control others into whatever they see necessary. Foucault draws ideas of power as a form of truth. His ideas behind truth is that truth should be understood through a system. Foucault draws many ideas from the idea of regulation and that can tie into modern discussions today where we see certain things being used as a fear tactic in order to gain a form of regulation over the people similar to a Panopticon. Truth is something that is provided for us rather than an artificial creation created by an outside power. Foucault goes into depth of how truth and power are not mere illusions to the human eye and we see that today with culture and popular culture.

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