(12-06-2023, 10:25 AM)mikesez Wrote:

(12-06-2023, 10:10 AM)Lucky2Last Wrote: Election Denier is a title, like anti-vaxxer, climate denier, or far right. It's a tactic called label shaming, that is designed to create an ingroup and an outgroup. It can't be reasoned with. You either have the correct opinion or you get the label. It can only be removed if the outgroup changes their opinion and becomes part of the ingroup. The left does this all the time, and it's by design. If you've read Foucault's analysis of power and knowledge, you would understand this phenomenon, but since you're just repeating what you are told, you trot out your LOLs and your labels, confident that you hold the correct "fact" opinion. It's such a neat little tool for manipulating the masses. It removes nuance and accountability in favor of being on the "right side of history." AKA superciliousness.

I'm sure this will be dismissed, though, as some type of conspiracy or illusion, right?

Dude.
Foucault was a hard leftist and he was wrong.
There is more to claims of fact than their implications for power structures.
Claims of fact are foremost true or false and the power structures (and sentient beings who believe the claims) can deal with it.
Your claims of fact about the 2020 election are mostly false.  Deal with it.

I love it when you play philosopher. Foucault's impact is definitely felt in the modern discourse. Not only because he's a "hard leftist," as you say, but because he's touching on truths. While it's easy to dismiss contributors to postmodern thought as radicals, they are addressing real concerns and problems. It's for this reason that they have helped shape our current world outlook. 

In Foucault's concept of power-knowledge, (read Power/Knowledge: Selected Interviews and Other Writings, 1972-1977 if you want to learn something new today) he proposes that power and knowledge are not separate entities but rather intertwined. This relationship can be summarized in two key points:

Power Produces Knowledge: According to Foucault, power relations within society actively produce and shape knowledge. This means that what is accepted as 'knowledge' or 'truth' is not independent of the power structures within which it arises. Institutions and individuals in positions of power have the capacity to define and disseminate knowledge that reinforces their authority.

Knowledge Reinforces Power: Conversely, the knowledge thus produced feeds back into and reinforces power structures. By defining and categorizing people, behaviors, and ideas, this 'knowledge' legitimizes certain forms of power and control. For example, scientific, legal, or moral discourses can create categories of 'normalcy' and 'deviancy,' which in turn justify various forms of societal control and intervention.

So how does this apply to label shaming within the power/knowledge framework? 

Labeling as a Form of Knowledge Production: When a group or individual is labeled (e.g., as 'anti-vaxxer,' 'conspiracy theorist,' etc.), it's not just a neutral descriptor. It's a form of knowledge production that categorizes and defines what is considered acceptable or deviant within society. When people like NYC use these terms, they are either enforcing or reinforcing acceptable knowledge put forward by people with power. NYC likes to say this is psycho babble, but it's pretty [BLEEP] common sense if any of you arrogant pricks actually read a book with words (see, that's name calling, and it's different than label shaming). 

Labels Enforce Power Structures: These labels, once established, become part of the accepted discourse and serve to reinforce existing power dynamics. They can marginalize certain viewpoints or groups and legitimize the exclusion or control of those labeled as such. Btw, this shouldn't need to be said, but people have been labeling others for centuries. That's not new. What's is new is the prevalence in which label shaming has been used by power structures in America, which in turn are trotted out and repeated by followers to silence and dissenting opinions. Election Denier is categorical. It is reductive. It's supercilious.  

Resistance and Counter-Discourse: Foucault also emphasized the potential for resistance within these dynamics. Just as power-knowledge can be used to enforce conformity, it can also be challenged and redefined. This aspect is crucial in understanding how label shaming might be contested or subverted in public discourse. For Foucault, it was important not only to stave off label shaming from the power structures, but to also to use it as a weapon. We saw this acted out in the 90's and 2000's, and we're seeing the power dynamic shift in favor of leftist ideology. What was being used to throw off oppression is now being wielded as a tool for compliance. This is also common in history, but when it shows up, things usually get ugly. 

But hey, I guess if you don't know anything about history or philosophy this just sounds like psychobabble about a hard leftist who was wrong about everything. You guys are geniuses. Really.

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