A Different Subject: A Virtual Dialogue on Resistance Between Michel de Certeau and Michel Foucault

Abstract

This article deals with the different conceptualizations of resistance in the work of Michel de Certeau and Michel Foucault. Their understanding of resistance departs from a similar critique of society, scientific discourse and the constitution of the subject. Both are concerned with the normalization and limitation of human thought and conduct that occurs through historically determined power relations in conjunction with discourses on truth. From his critique, Certeau develops an understanding of resistance that revolves around practices and experiences that rupture the ‘strategically’ constituted subject and introduce ‘otherness’ in our daily lives. Foucault’s understanding of resistance, on the other hand, revolves around a critical investigation of one’s own historically determined limitations and the deliberate act of autonomously constituting oneself as subject.