Knowledge created from a position of strength produces the object it claims to describe

Evidence

Perhaps we should abandon the belief that power makes mad and that, by the same token, the renunciation of power is one of the conditions of knowledge. We should admit rather that power produces knowledge (and not simply by encouraging it because it serves power or by applying it because it is useful); that power and knowledge directly imply one another; that there is no power relation without the correlative constitution of a field of knowledge, nor any knowledge that does not presuppose and constitute at the same time power relations. — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 75 (#expands, via linked claim)

A discourse is a way of talking about or representing something. It produces knowledge that shapes perceptions and practice. It is part of the way in which power operates. Therefore, it has consequences for both those who employ it and those who are “subjected” to it. — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 687 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

For example, Palestinians fighting to regain land on the West Bank from Israel may be described either as “freedom fighters” or as “terrorists.” It is a fact that they are fighting, but what does the fighting mean? The facts alone cannot decide. And the very language we use—“freedom fighters/terrorists”—is part of the difficulty. Moreover, certain descriptions, even if they appear false to us, can be made “true” because people act on them believing that they are true, and so their actions have real consequences. Whether the Palestinians are terrorists or not, if we think they are, and act on that “knowledge,” they in effect become terrorists because we treat them as such. The language (discourse) has real effects in practice: the description becomes “true.” — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 577 (#corroborates, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: So-called objective accounts encode the standpoint of the powerful; Power and knowledge mutually constitute and imply one another — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 75; Descriptions can become true because people act on them believing they are true — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2: Identity…, 577 (+12 more)

Related

• Knowledge produced by discourse subjects those who are known to power (similarity 0.87)
• Discourse produces knowledge that shapes perceptions and enacts power (similarity 0.87)
• Power and knowledge mutually constitute and imply one another (similarity 0.83)
• Power requires an economy of true discourses to function. (similarity 0.82)
• Discourse is a system through which knowledge becomes power over the known. (similarity 0.81)
• Discourse constrains what can be thought about the Other (similarity 0.80)
• Power produces the individual rather than merely repressing it (similarity 0.79)
• Descriptions can become true because people act on them believing they are true (similarity 0.79)
• Power produces subjects and desires rather than merely repressing them (similarity 0.78)
• The examination fuses power relations with knowledge relations into one mechanism (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Power and knowledge mutually constitute and imply one another #expands (0.82) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 75
• Discourse produces knowledge that shapes perceptions and enacts power #corroborates (0.80) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 687
• Descriptions can become true because people act on them believing they are true #corroborates (0.78) — Stuart Hall, Essential Essays, Volume 2, 577
• Permanent observation of bodies simultaneously produces knowledge of the individual and subjection #expands (0.78) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 450
• The examination fuses power relations with knowledge relations into one mechanism #expands (0.75) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 284
• Representation meaning arises independently of authorial intention and depends on preexisting social knowledge #complicates (0.72) — Chris Allen, Islamophobia, 743
• Relational qualities can harden into intrinsic traits of an element #complicates (0.72)