Reading Foucault's notion of Repression!

An exerpt and an interpretation:

“One has to be completely taken in by this internal ruse of confession in order to attribute a fundamental role to censorship, to taboos regarding speaking and thinking; one has to have an inverted image of power in order to believe that all these voices which have spoken for so long in our civilization—repeating the formidable injunction to tell what one is and what one does, what one recollects and what one has forgotten, what one is thinking and what one thinks he is not thinking—are speaking to us of freedom” (Scientia Sexualis, p60)

This passage, written by Foucault, vehemently argues against using a notion of repression to conceptualize the dynamics of power. Foucault proceeds by defining his use of the terms confession, repression and power. Lastly, he posits that the belief in struggle against a power conceptualized as repression as another effect of real power.
Foucault makes use of the practice of confession to illustrate the distinction between repression-power and positive power.
In the first sentence Foucault explains his use of the term repression. Repression is defined here as a kind of power that restricts the will of its target. In other words, to be under this repression-power is to be in effect imprisoned. He uses the words “censorship” and “taboos” as examples of what he means. Repression-power seeks to restrict, constrain, and submit the thinking and acting of its targets. Clearly opposed to such a conceptualization of power, Foucault states that to believe in its efficacy is to be taken in by a “ruse.”
Foucault next provides us with his notion of how power really works. He uses the following sequence of words, “to tell what one is and what one does, what one recollects and what one has forgotten, what one is thinking and what one thinks he is not thinking.” Foucault reveals key aspects of his conceptualization of power in this phrase. The phrase “to tell what one is and what one does” is a reference to the subjectification effect of power. By this I mean to say the constitution of subjectivity or identities amongst individuals. Power does not hold back human identity or keep the real truer subjectivity from expressing itself (as repression-power would propose), but it creates identity and forms individuals into subjects. The phrases “what one recollects and what one has forgotten, what one is thinking and what one thinks he is not thinking” are references to the distributive nature of power. Instead of power conceptualized as containment, Foucault forwards that power be conceptualized as distributive. By distributive I mean to say that it forces identity into certain molds and not others. It creates a logic of identity formation. Although there is a sense of containment in a notion of distribution, in that by forcing identify into certain channels it is implicitly constrained. Nevertheless, Foucault wishes to emphasize the positive effects of a distributive power. It constrains through active formation of identities and subjectivities not through their imprisonment.
Having identified the references made to a false and better notion of power their placement in expert reveals something about their relationship. Foucault uses the term confession as an act that transmits the false notion of repression-power. The confession here is used as a symbol of religious repression (specifically on sexual repression). As it is a “ruse,” people are made to believe that through confession the institutions are forcing one to admit to transgressions. Popular belief interprets confession as a method of policing the identity or subject. If one is to confess his/her sins then they are made to conform to the prohibitions of repression. This, Foucault states is an inverted notion of confession as it relates to power.
Confession in Foucault instead takes on the task of distributing identities. By confessing one is forced to take a stand on their own subjectivity/identity, they are forced to name what is and what it is not, both to the listener and to themselves. Acts turn into identities. The confession by marking sinful and non-sinful acts distributes the identity/subject/soul into different channels. Foucault makes use of the practice of confession to illustrate the distinction between repression-power and positive power.
Foucault illustrates how a critique of repression-power, which takes it as an object, is a feature of distributive power. Repression-power is not real, it is not prior to distributive power. Its existence is only in false popular belief. I have extracted a portio of this following statement in order better understand its meaning. He states, “one has to have an inverted image of power in order to believe that all these voices which have spoken for so long in our civilization… are speaking to us of freedom.” Here Foucault critiques the critiques of repression. The voices that speak of freedom or emancipation from repression are in fact misguided. Adding the extract taked from this statement reveals the connection of belief and even critique of repression-power is connected to the effects of distributive power. He states, “one has to have an inverted image of power in order to believe that all these voices which have spoken for so long in our civilization—repeating the formidable injunction to tell what one is and what one does, what one recollects and what one has forgotten, what one is thinking and what one thinks he is not thinking—are speaking to us of freedom.” It is those voices that critique repression that also fall victim to enforcing a distributive power. Those voices are in fact “repeating the injunction” of distributing identities/subjects/souls.
In this short extract Foucault accomplish several important tasks. Without having to go into a long discussion of what he means by repression-power and distributive power he makes reference to them with quick phrasing. Further, he uses the act of confession as an analogy to show how repression power becomes confused for distributive power. Lastly, he shows that the belief in repression power is an effect of distributive power. The task is complete; Foucault illustrates the relationship between belief in repression power and the actual existence of distributive power.