Michel Foucault

Foucault was a French philosopher who examined how power operates through institutions, discourses, and knowledge systems. He argued that power is not simply repressive but productive — it shapes what we consider true, normal, and possible.

His archaeological and genealogical methods analyzed the history of madness, medicine, prisons, and sexuality, revealing how social norms are constructed rather than natural. His concept of biopower — the regulation of populations through knowledge — remains deeply influential.