How rhetoric influences power

What my proximity to island politics taught me about the nature of politics in bigger countries

“Power is everywhere; not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere… Power is not an institution, and not a structure; neither is it a certain strength we are endowed with; it is the name that one attributes to a complex strategical situation in a particular society.” — Michel Foucault.

In the summer of 2011, my family and I took a trip to the Caribbean, more specifically the island of Saint Lucia, where I was born, and where my cousin, a politician vying for a seat on the United Workers Party (UWP), was kicking off her campaign.

To show our support, my then husband and I, a Dutchman (and that becomes important), decided to go home, combining a little bit of the family holiday with the political, a feat best left to others . As it turned out, much of our time was spent overseeing the construction of a massive fence around my mothers country house, memory I look back on and become re-traumatized. That is for another story but, word to the wise tropical…