S1L5 - Y-a-t-il du politique dans tout ?

"Political" refers to anything related to power, the State and community life. Therefore, the question is: Is everything political? The answer to this question depends on your point of view. In a maximalist perspective, everything is political. In a minimalist perspective, the polity is nothing more than a form of social management. You’ll discover a third perspective that emerges between the two first ones.

In a maximalist perspective, any human activity is political. Crozier and Friedberg even stated that "Everything is political since power is everywhere." Michel Foucault also took the same stance on the matter. Any activity, even if seemingly not political, becomes political because it spreads the values promoted by the polity to ensure social cohesion, therefore replicating social order.

Educating children, care, production of consumer goods, the consumption of these goods, … everything is political. During the late 1960s, for instance, the feminist movement claimed that "the private is political". Their intention was to speak out against the fact that male domination is endured in the private sphere of course ?????? but also out of it and is reflected on a societal scale, notably in women’s social status.

Of course, the implementation of this maximalist perspective differs depending on the nature of the regime: Whether it's authoritarian, totalitarian or democratic. A totalitarian regime, such as Hitler's Nazi Germany or Stalin's Soviet Union, aims to politicise every aspect of daily life: Literature, music, architecture, sports, science, etc. The intent is to control as many aspects of society as possible.

In a democracy, the polity has much less control over society. It doesn't put in place an explicit strategy with that intent. Sports events, art works, and debates can gain a political dimension: A sense of belonging to a country, common values, a political stance. However, it's not an end in itself. On the contrary, some analysts, such as some ideologists, believe only