Diren Valayden, The Dangers of Liberalism: Foucault and Postcoloniality in Francem Jadaliyya, Mar 17 2014
[This article is the first in a three-part Jadaliyya series that looks at Foucault’s work in relationship to the legacy of French colonialism in North Africa.]
“For with Napoleon’s occupation of Egypt processes were set in motion between East and West that still dominate our contemporary cultural and political perspectives.” So writes Edward Said in Orientalism regarding the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt in 1798, which he describes as “the very model of a truly scientific appropriation of one culture by another, apparently stronger one.”[1] If we take this as a model of what studies of post/colonialism aspire to, then it is fair to say that colonialism and imperialism barely appear in Foucault’s writings. Despite coming face to face with the postcolonial condition while living in Tunisia (he was arrested and beaten because of his support for student protesters), given his apparent support for Israel and lack of solidarity for the Palestinian struggle, and having participated in demonstrations against the Vietnam war, Foucault had very little to say about colonialism. As such, no defense of his position is required. But, that does not mean he was uninterested or ignorant of colonization. This relative silence can in fact be understood in “strategic”[2] terms, as part of an investigation of the very categories of liberalism that shape a concept such as colonialism.
read more
Foucault News 