Foucault, The Government of Self and Other, Lectures at the College De France, 1982-1983, Summary and Notes (original) (raw)
Related papers
Foucault Studies, 2010
With the translation of this 1983 lecture course, the first of two-parts, with the translation of a second, The Courage of Truth, expected in 2011, also devoted to the government of self and others, given in 1984, and concluded just before Foucault's death, we are now in a better position to grasp the significance of its author's ‚journey to Greece.‛ We do not read Foucault's focus on Greco-Roman antiquity after 1980 as a retreat from a concern with the problems of modernity. Indeed, it seems to us that Foucault's interpretation of ancient texts, Euripides's Ion, Thucydides's account of Pericles's call to arms against Sparta before the Athenian assembly, the figure of Socrates in Platonic dialogues such as the Apology, and the Gorgias, Plato's letters recounting his involvement in the politics of Syracuse, or the account of the Cynic Diogenes's dialogue with Alexander the Great, Foucault's focus on truth-telling or parresia in the ancient world, are all also directed to the issues confronting both political theory and philosophy in the modern world. Indeed, taking his point of departure in the lecture course from one facet of Kant's philosophy, not ‚the question of the conditions of possibility of true knowledge,‛ Kant's analytic of truth, his epistemology, but rather that other dimension of Kant's thinking, ‚what could be called an ontology of the present, of present reality, an ontology of modernity, an ontology of ourselves,‛ (20-21) Foucault explores the prospects of extricating ourselves from our ‚self-incurred‛ tutelage, our present mode of subjectivity through which we exist under the authority of others.
Foucault, Governmentality, and the Techniques of the Self
Handbook of Governmentality
In this chapter, I retrace the emergence of the notion of governmentality in Michel Foucault’s work as both a way of prolonging his previous analyses of disciplinary and biopolitical power, and as a necessary condition for the development of his reflections on “ethics” and the techniques of the self. First, I show that the anatomo- and bio-political mechanisms of power that Foucault explores in the 1970s have a common goal: the government of human beings’ (everyday) life in its multiple, interconnected dimensions (Section 2). I then argue that Foucault elaborates the notion of governmentality as a response to the objection according to which his power/knowledge framework makes any attempt at resistance ultimately pointless. His genealogy of the government of human beings emphasizes that the point of articulation and clash between power and resistance is to be situated at the level of what he calls “subjectivity,” thus establishing a direct link between politics and ethics (Section 3). Indeed, defined as the contact point between coercion-technologies and self-technologies, subjectivity constitutes for Foucault both the main target of governmental mechanisms of power and the essential support for the enactment of counter-conducts and practices of freedom (Section 4). This, I argue, helps to explain the distinctively “anarchaeological” flair of Foucault’s lectures and writings post-1978: the study of governmentality goes hand in hand with the postulate of the non-necessity of all power, and hence with the ever-present possibility of critique and resistance. The political relevance of Foucault’s so-called “turn to ethics,” I claim, can only be understood in this light, since governmentality for him ultimately implies the relationship of self to self (Section 5).
Foucault Studies, 2010
With the translation of this 1983 lecture course, the first of two-parts, with the translation of a second, The Courage of Truth, expected in 2011, also devoted to the government of self and others, given in 1984, and concluded just before Foucault's death, we are now in a better position to grasp the significance of its author's ‚journey to Greece.‛ We do not read Foucault's focus on Greco-Roman antiquity after 1980 as a retreat from a concern with the problems of modernity. Indeed, it seems to us that Foucault's interpretation of ancient texts, Euripides's Ion, Thucydides's account of Pericles's call to arms against Sparta before the Athenian assembly, the figure of Socrates in Platonic dialogues such as the Apology, and the Gorgias, Plato's letters recounting his involvement in the politics of Syracuse, or the account of the Cynic Diogenes's dialogue with Alexander the Great, Foucault's focus on truth-telling or parresia in the ancient world, are all also directed to the issues confronting both political theory and philosophy in the modern world. Indeed, taking his point of departure in the lecture course from one facet of Kant's philosophy, not ‚the question of the conditions of possibility of true knowledge,‛ Kant's analytic of truth, his epistemology, but rather that other dimension of Kant's thinking, ‚what could be called an ontology of the present, of present reality, an ontology of modernity, an ontology of ourselves,‛ (20-21) Foucault explores the prospects of extricating ourselves from our ‚self-incurred‛ tutelage, our present mode of subjectivity through which we exist under the authority of others.
The Mystery of Obedience. La Boétie, Foucault at the Margins of Power
Invisible Biographies. Marginates and Marginals, 2021
The article reconstructs two different perspectives on the relation between power and servitude. The first part is dedicated to Étienne de La Boétie’s Discours de la servitude volontarie and shows the voluntary aspect of servitude. The second part is dedicated to the Foucault’s concept of Dispositif and shows the involuntary aspect of servitude. The aim of the article is to show how the evolution of society has not gone hand in hand with the emancipation of citizens, but has, on the contrary, devised a new, less evident but no less pervasive, way of controlling people’s conscience.
The Political Aim of Self-Cultivation in Foucault
The recent emergence of the care of the self as a topic of discussion in contemporary philosophy has raised a variety of issues, all related to the different aspects and elds involved in its development. One of the main issues is to investigate the political implications for self-cultivation. In order to pursue this research, I will specically consider the work of Foucault and his turn towards the care of the self. There are two main reasons behind the choice of focusing on the French philosopher. First, Foucault's late interest in the care of the self and in the subject is apparently at odds to his preceding rejection, especially to the study of power. Second, Foucault's work has been enormously influential and has inspired a multiplicity of research projects, including many in political and social studies. According to this framework, in this paper I will try to demonstrate both how self-cultivation i) has a political dimension and ii) is coherently framed within his previous rejection. Furthermore, I will attempt to highlight what I believe to be some weak areas of Foucault's proposal. Foreword This article focuses on the analysis of how and why self-cultivation in Foucault could have political meaning and effectiveness. To support the political aim of the care of self, it will be necessary to prove the continuist hypothesis, which supposes coherence and continuity between Foucault's writings and lectures. According to this aim, the paper will be structured in three sections. The first concentrates on the category of power, by recalling its development in the lectures at Collège de France in the late 1970s. Regarding the study of power, particular attention will be paid to the comparison instituted by Foucault between his innovative conception of power and the currently accepted one. The second part will focus on the dimension of the care of self as it emerges from
Rev of Foucault Government of Self
With the translation of this 1983 lecture course, the first of two-parts, with the translation of a second, The Courage of Truth, expected in 2011, also devoted to the government of self and others, given in 1984, and concluded just before Foucault's death, we are now in a better position to grasp the significance of its author's ‚journey to Greece.‛ We do not read Foucault's focus on Greco-Roman antiquity after 1980 as a retreat from a concern with the problems of modernity. Indeed, it seems to us that Foucault's interpretation of ancient texts, Euripides's Ion, Thucydides's account of Pericles's call to arms against Sparta before the Athenian assembly, the figure of Socrates in Platonic dialogues such as the Apology, and the Gorgias, Plato's letters recounting his involvement in the politics of Syracuse, or the account of the Cynic Diogenes's dialogue with Alexander the Great, Foucault's focus on truth-telling or parresia in the ancient world, are all also directed to the issues confronting both political theory and philosophy in the modern world. Indeed, taking his point of departure in the lecture course from one facet of Kant's philosophy, not ‚the question of the conditions of possibility of true knowledge,‛ Kant's analytic of truth, his epistemology, but rather that other dimension of Kant's thinking, ‚what could be called an ontology of the present, of present reality, an ontology of modernity, an ontology of ourselves,‛ (20-21) Foucault explores the prospects of extricating ourselves from our ‚self-incurred‛ tutelage, our present mode of subjectivity through which we exist under the authority of others.
Governmentality: Foucault, the Process of Individualization and Psychology
Re-sizing Psychology in Public Policy and the Private Imagination, 2016
Governmentality: Foucault, the Process of Individualization and Psychology Just visiting (i) Governmentality: Less a sovereign than a subject? (ii) Foucault and the neo-Foucauldians: Rose's Governing the soul and the shaping of the private self Case Study 8 : Mental Health as a Discursive Field (iii) Th e process of individualization Sites of Contest 12 : Self-Scrutiny and Parenting (iv) I, me, my and mine as the dominant discourse Just Visiting To continue the review two new theory streams are featured mindful these traditions have reputations for being diffi cult more than approachable. To some degree, this problem is due to wilful inaccessibility as some specialists seem to believe that purity can only be preserved if 'their' texts remain impenetrable to outsiders. Another attitude contends that good ideas can be reasonably summarized and communicated to whoever is interested, if this person is prepared to invest a reasonable eff ort. In relation to the two theories at the centre of the current chapter this eff ort is defi nitely warranted. Th e fi rst theory stream is associated with Michel Foucault and those, like Nikolas Rose, who have developed his themes and mode of analysis. Th is legacy is useful, even crucial, to the current project as it shines a particular, and particularly interesting, light on Psychology. Seen in this display Psychology is revealed as valued and doing considerable good, but also as an agent that plays a key role in regulating identity and subjectivity. Th e distinctive view of Psychology that emerges from Foucault's work can be made more precise if another, quite diff erent, theory stream is considered-what sociologists term the process of individualization. Th is process, it is argued, has been steeply intensifying over the last decades and involves individual citizens being allocated an unprecedented quality and quantity of responsibility. Centred on 'the norm of autonomy' (Rose 1999 : 52), this process pictures the individual as a stand-alone entrepreneur. Th is image of the self is novel, albeit ideologically familiar. It also happens to be almost an exact copy of the description of the self that Psychology has coincidentally 'discovered'-that the individual is supposed to be an active and amoral self-manager. Engaging with this double-description will require a degree of eff ort for those who have had little or no contact with the lighting used in this chapter's picture gallery. Whether the reader is a familiar visitor, or is fresh to this space, stroll about. Th ere is much here that is interesting to consider. Governmentality: Less a Sovereign than a Subject? Michel Foucault, the self-declared historian of ideas, devoted a particular interest to the 'art of government' in his later work (Foucault 1991 : 92). His research resulted in the development of a highly original approach. Th is mode of analysis continues to fascinate and inform a diverse range of politics of identity activists, critical theorists, social scientists, cultural theorists and critical psychologists. Rather than focusing on obvious sources of control, such as law enforcement or ideology, he concentrated 210 Re-sizing Psychology in Public Policy and the Private Imagination