Lucian Popescu, Foucault, cunoasterea si istoria, Editura Institutul European
Publisher’s page
Pdf of abstract in English
Extract from Abstract in English
Foucault, Knowledge, and History
This synthesis on Foucault’s ideas and subjects (author, discourse, sexuality, madness, technologies, methods of writing and representing knowledge, power-knowledge etc.) presents a new way of understanding knowledge, power, history beyond academic labels stuck on Foucault’s social and professional identity. I explained why Foucault saw "relations of power" in every human relationship, and I criticized some of his generalizations concerning this concept. Power is not everywhere…
‘Problems’, in Foucault’s acception, include: how power works from the bottom to the top of societies and vice versa, from citizens to politicians and from politicians to citizens, as a circular and diffuse phenomenon; how sexuality became an important discourse and what implications it has for our contemporary mentality; how madness was defined and elaborated by socio-political powers; how and why our intellectual texts and discourses are controlled, repressed, modelled or, in extreme cases, censured and prohibited by sociopolitical institutions. The book has an introductory part, which explains why Foucault rejected the idea of the author and how he conceived his books as a series of vivid representations in which he paints his thoughts in chiaroscuro tones. Concrete examples from his works illustrate his chiaroscuro manner of thinking/writing.
Foucault News 