Michel Foucault, The History of Sexuality: An Introduction, Volume 1 (1978) (original) (raw)

Foucault's Scholarly Virtues and Sexuality Historiography. HISTORY:Journal of the Historical Association, final author version

History: Journal of the Historical Association, 2020

This article now published in History: The Journal of the Historical Association looks at why many historians of sexuality appear dissatisfied with the level of theoretical precision in the field by considering the reception of Foucault’s approach and why some parts of it have been more difficult to assimilate within the historical discipline than others. It proposes that Foucault has been only partially understood by most historians of sexuality with the result that the properties of his unique disciplined ascesis have been under-considered. The paper argues that Foucault shared many of the critical and ethical goals that are inherent to certain types of historical writing, noting where he diverged from them in ways that have problematized his reception among sexuality historians. It argues that Foucault's own ascesis or ‘transformation of self’ as an intellectual might be better appreciated as a unique set of scholarly virtues expressed in his concerns about teleology, presentism, and the critical practice of ‘history of the present’ that characterize his work on sexuality. The document found here is a final author version and the published version may differ slightly from it. If citing, please use the final version: Alison Downham Moore, "Foucault’s Scholarly Virtues and Sexuality Historiography," History: The Journal of the Historical Association 105, no.366 (July 2020): 446-469. Doi: 10.1111/1468-229X.13015

BODY POLITICS REVIEW OF FOUCAULT'S THE HİSTORY OF SEXUALITY BOOK

In this work, I will interpret Foucault's "The History of Sexuality" book in the context of body and gender. In fact, it is a work that must be addressed in the broader context of Foucault's other works, "The Birth of the Prison", "Subject and Power".In this work, I will interpret Foucault's "The History of Sexuality" book in the context of body and gender. In fact, it is a work that must be addressed in the broader context of Foucault's other works, "The Birth of the Prison", "Subject and Power".

Foucault, the end of a decade

With the recent publication of the fourth volume of Foucault's History of Sexuality, Les aveux de la chair, the intense editorial activity surrounding his work appears to be drawing to a close. The publication of this long-awaited volume comes just after the edition of Theories et Institutions Pénales (2015), the last volume of his lectures at the Collège de France. While several smaller texts, interviews and documents might still appear in years to come, we have probably reached the end of a cycle. The wide range of material currently available has given us a more comprehensive view of Foucault's last decade. Ten years ago almost none of his lectures (either at the College de France or elsewhere) were open to consultation and our understanding of the 'late' Foucault was rather limited.