Foucault on Theorizing Specificity

Bibliographic Data

ID4476367
AuthorsM Hannah (Department of Geography, Pennsylvania State University, 302 Walker Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA), Matthew G Hannah (0009-0009-9738-0268, Pennsylvania State University, corresponding author)
Year1993
Volume11
Issue3
Pages349-363
Publication date1993-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEnvironment and Planning D Society and Space (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0263-7758 • E-ISSN: 1472-3433
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1068/d110349
OpenAlexW2073803944
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited14

Philo has brought Foucault's early, 'archaeological' work to the attention of human geographers as a possible source of help in theorizing specificity. By contrast, in this paper the archaeological project is portrayed as an illuminating failure which holds valuable lessons for geographers. The archaeological period is placed in the context of Foucault's career, and then the Archaeology of Knowledge is situated as the arena for Foucault's most instructive encounters with the problems of necessity, contingency, and human subjectivity. Although Foucault's profound theoretical modesty does not solve the problem of how to theorize specificity, it does suggest that we make significant adjustments in our own attempts to do so. The implications of the argument are given a test drive through a brief reading of recent work by Thrift, after which a recasting of the notion of responsibility is put forward as a means of beginning to deal more bravely with poststrueturalism

Archaeology · Argument (complex analysis · Context (archaeology · Contingency · Epistemology · Linguistics · Michel foucault · Political science · Politics · Reading (process · Situated · Sociology · Subjectification · Subjectivity · African Sexualities and LGBTQ+ Issues · Computer Science · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · History · Law · Philosophy