Before getting into the concept of implicit obedience mentioned in Timothy Mitchell’s book, I reflected on the meaning of obedience. And, from my perspective, it means an act in response to a direct order received from someone. Mostly when people think about obedience, they think about an order given by someone with a higher status, and the higher the position of that person, the more chance he/she has to be obeyed. Having said that, obedience relies on social power.
Then, when I thought about implicit obedience, what came to my mind was that it is something implicit rather than stated. Bringing that to my life experience, when I was studying at a military college in my high school, I had to obey the army orders. One order was to salute when we encounter someone entitled by grade or rank to a salute, such as a superior officer. So, every time I entered the school and saw an officer standing at the school entrance, I automatically saluted him. That is an example of implicit obedience because even without him saying anything, I knew that was the right thing to do in a military environment.
Therefore, implicit obedience is the act of obeying before receiving a direct order. Although some people need someone to give them a push, some rules are implied in that environment and do not really need to be explained and said by someone. Moreover, I believe it is our job as humans to comply with the rules even before someone orders.
Reference:
- Mitchell, T. (1988). Colonizing Egypt. Cambridge [Cambridgeshire]: Cambridge University Press.