Abstract

The paper is dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the birth of one of the most notable but at the same time most controversial thinkers of the 20th century M. Foucault and his theory of power. Foucault keeps from creating any universal definition of the power. Instead he analyses the structure and the nature of the power relationships from every aspect. He displays three basic segments in the internal structure of power: the strategic relationship, the power relationship and the technique of the governance. According to M. Foucault the main attributes of the power relationships are the following: the power is not a property, it is generated from underneath and exists everywhere, it is joined with the resistance to itself, it is positive and lastly it is the power is knowledge. All of these attributes predict, penetrate and complement one another