We live in times of political upheaval with global effects on our everyday lives. The current Russian invasion of Ukraine since February 2022 marks a political upheaval that divides the world into fronts and at the same time creates a global disorder that directly leads to the solidification of old values and the creation of new ideologies. Marx defines ideology in the narrower sense as social norms for justifying one’s own actions and evaluating those of others. A central point in Foucault’s approach to power is that he goes beyond politics and sees power as an everyday, socialised and embodied phenomenon that also occurs in all social interactions between people. Accordingly, power results from a structure of relationships and only comes to fruition in actions.
In the German, the word “power” combines unusually many-layered and complex meanings. On the one hand, it means domination and violence, but on the other hand it also means power and strength as well as the ability to shape and form something. Last but not least, it is also to be understood as an imperative, a call to action. Starting from this context, we would like to reflect on the concept of power and the power relationship in the context of the current time in the annual programme 2024/25 and furthermore question whether a new definition of power can be developed.