Foucault, governmentality, and the techniques of the self

Datos Bibliográficos

ID23213446
AutoresD Lorenzini (0000-0001-8794-9419, autor de correspondencia)
Año2023
Páginas22-37
Fecha de publicación2023-04-25
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoCHAPTER
RevistaHandbook on Governmentality (SOURCE_BOOK)
EditorialEdward Elgar Publishing (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.4337/9781839108662.00008
OpenAlexW4366816969
ISBN9781839108662
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas7

In this chapter, I retrace the emergence of the notion of governmentality in Michel Foucault’s work. First, I show that the anatomo- and bio-political mechanisms of power that he explores in the 1970s have the government of human beings’ (everyday) life as a common goal. I then argue that Foucault elaborates the notion of governmentality as a response to the objection that 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, which is both the main target of governmental mechanisms of power and the essential support for practices of freedom. Thus, 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 resistance.

Articulation (sociology) · Biopower · Epistemology · Government (linguistics) · Governmentality · Michel foucault · Political science · Politics · Power (physics) · Resistance (ecology) · Situated · Sociology · Subjectification · Subjectivity · Feminism, Gender, and Sexuality Studies · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Law · Philosophy