Power, Subjectivation and Resistance in Postanarchism: A Critical Reading of Foucault's Theory of Power in Saul Newman's Thought

This article offers a critical theoretical examination of the relationship between power, subjectivation, and resistance in Saul Newman's postanarchist thought, with particular attention to his engagement with Michel Foucault's theory of power. Foucault's conception of power as productive, relational, and dispersed fundamentally challenges traditional understandings of domination based on sovereignty, repression, and state-centred authority. By demonstrating that power is involved in the constitution of subjects, identities, and regimes of knowledge, Foucault raises a fundamental problem for emancipatory politics: how can resistance be possible when the subject itself is constituted through relations of power? This article argues that Saul Newman addresses this problem by bringing Lacanian psychoanalysis into dialogue with Foucauldian theory. In particular, the Lacanian concepts of the divided subject, lack, and the Real provide a theoretical framework for understanding why processes of subjectivation can never be complete and why power can never fully determine or stabilise subjectivity. The central argument is that resistance does not require an essential human subject or an external position beyond power. Rather, its possibility emerges from the constitutive incompleteness of subjectivation and the internal limits of power itself. The article's contribution lies in repositioning Saul Newman not merely as a critic or revisionist of classical anarchism, but as a significant theorist of post-Foucauldian resistance. It further examines the political implications and limitations of this approach, particularly concerning agency, collective organisation, and the possibility of sustaining emancipatory political practices. By bringing Foucault, Lacan, and postanarchist political theory into critical conversation, this study contributes to broader debates in contemporary political philosophy, critical theory, and social and political thought concerning the relationship between power, subjectivity, and resistance. Keywords: Postanarchism; Saul Newman; Michel Foucault; Power; Subjectivation; Resistance; Jacques Lacan; Divided Subject; Political Philosophy; Critical Theory; Anarchist Theory.