HED4809
ASSIGNMENT 3 2025
DUE: 31 JULY 2025 (MEMO)
, HED4809
ASSIGNMENT 3 2025
QUESTION 1
Use true or false to answer the following questions related to Foucault’s postmodern and
Marxism.
1.1 Foucault views power as something that is only possessed by dominant social
classes.
False
(Foucault rejects this centralized view; power is diffuse, relational, and exercised through
networks, not owned by classes.)
1.2 Marxist theory primarily focuses on economic determinism, where economic factors
are seen as the driving force behind social structures and class relations.
True
(Marxism emphasizes the economic "base" shaping the sociopolitical "superstructure.")
1.3 Foucault’s concept of discourse refers to the ways in which language, knowledge,
and societal norms shape and control behavior.
True
(Discourse, for Foucault, structures reality, defines truth, and regulates social practices.)
1.4 Unlike Marx, Foucault does not believe that power is primarily rooted in economic
structures.
True
(Foucault argues power operates through knowledge, institutions, and micro-practices, not just
economics.)
1.5 Foucault’s theories on power and knowledge apply to contemporary issues like
digital surveillance, showing how control is maintained through observation and
information.
True
ASSIGNMENT 3 2025
DUE: 31 JULY 2025 (MEMO)
, HED4809
ASSIGNMENT 3 2025
QUESTION 1
Use true or false to answer the following questions related to Foucault’s postmodern and
Marxism.
1.1 Foucault views power as something that is only possessed by dominant social
classes.
False
(Foucault rejects this centralized view; power is diffuse, relational, and exercised through
networks, not owned by classes.)
1.2 Marxist theory primarily focuses on economic determinism, where economic factors
are seen as the driving force behind social structures and class relations.
True
(Marxism emphasizes the economic "base" shaping the sociopolitical "superstructure.")
1.3 Foucault’s concept of discourse refers to the ways in which language, knowledge,
and societal norms shape and control behavior.
True
(Discourse, for Foucault, structures reality, defines truth, and regulates social practices.)
1.4 Unlike Marx, Foucault does not believe that power is primarily rooted in economic
structures.
True
(Foucault argues power operates through knowledge, institutions, and micro-practices, not just
economics.)
1.5 Foucault’s theories on power and knowledge apply to contemporary issues like
digital surveillance, showing how control is maintained through observation and
information.
True
