Michel Foucault and the coloniality of power

Contrary to most postcolonial approaches that focus on modernity/coloniality, this article argues for the relevance of heterarchical theories of power. In his lectures at Collège de France, Foucault shifts from a microphysical and corpopolitical analytic of power towards a biopolitical analytic of power. This shift in Foucault's focus is analyzed through Quijano and Wallerstein's theorization of the modern/colonial world system. In doing so, this paper details the ways in which corpopolitics, biopolitics, and geopolitics operate on the micro-, meso- and macro-levels of power, respectively. Further decolonial research should give deeper consideration to heterarchical theories of power, particularly as they relate to multiple temporalities within the modern/colonial world system.