Now Reading: Foucault’s Refusal of Fixed Identity Gains Digital Relevance
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Foucault’s Refusal of Fixed Identity Gains Digital Relevance
Michel Foucault’s line, “Maybe the target nowadays is not to discover what we are but to refuse what we are,” comes from his 1982 essay The Subject and Power, published in Critical…
The Story in Brief
Michel Foucault’s line, “Maybe the target nowadays is not to discover what we are but to refuse what we are,” comes from his 1982 essay The Subject and Power, published in Critical Inquiry. The French philosopher argued that institutions shape identity by classifying people as patients, criminals, consumers or productive workers.
His view challenged the idea that freedom comes from finding a fixed inner self. Foucault said people should question the labels imposed by medicine, economics, politics and social institutions. The argument also applies to digital platforms, which use browsing, location and shopping data to build profiles that can influence how users see themselves.
The Indian Opinion
The lazy reading is that Foucault urged people to reject every identity, diagnosis or social bond. He did not. The sharper point is that useful categories can become limits when institutions treat them as complete truths. A mental health diagnosis may guide care, while an algorithmic profile may mainly serve a company’s business model. The practical test is simple: who created the label, who benefits from it, and can a person challenge it?
Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
