Concise definition
Power and knowledge in Arkoun’s thought are a foundational relationship that shows that knowledge is not produced in a vacuum, but within institutions, hierarchies, and mechanisms of recognition that grant legitimacy to some discourses and prevent others from appearing. Every form of knowledge, especially religious knowledge, is formed within a structure capable of turning it into a norm, or of pushing it to the margins through exclusion.
Its place in the project
This concept operates at the heart of Arkoun’s analysis because it explains how orthodoxy was formed, how ijtihad was held captive, and how some interpretation came to be authority rather than opinion. Through it, Arkoun rejects the naive separation between ideas and the sites where they are produced, because the history of jurisprudence, education, the state, and symbols all participate in shaping what is allowed to be thought and what is forbidden. This is why this concept is directly linked to orthodoxy and the unthought and discourse analysis, and it also explains how texts become instruments of legitimacy or epistemic barriers.
Example or witness
This concept is embodied in Arkoun’s analysis of how certain readings became entrenched as the “correct” or “authorized” ones, while other readings were excluded from circulation. The issue is not merely a difference in understanding, but the existence of a network of education, jurisprudence, the state, and symbolism that grants a discourse normative force. In this sense, the history of ideas becomes a history of power as much as a history of knowledge.
See also: Power and Knowledge (concept page)