Foucault and Feminist Philosophy: Other Perspectives and Approaches, Feminist Philosophy Quarterly, Vol. 12 No. 2/3 (2026)
Published: 2026-09-18
In this special double issue, guest edited by Shelley Lynn Tremain, readers will find six peer-reviewed articles and an interview, as well as an introduction by Tremain.
In the first article, entitled “Old Discipline, New Medium: LLMs and the Neoliberal University,” Mich Ciurria draws on Foucault’s historical approach to offer a novel analysis of Large Language Models (LLMs), construing them as a recent strategy of an old form of power rather than a new phenomenon altogether.
In the second article, “The Self-Formation of Sex Workers: A Foucauldian Reading of Xiaojie in Postsocialist China,” Ying Huang argues against the conceptions of power and the subject that underlie prominent liberal feminist critiques of sex work, which Huang regards as reductive and outmoded.
The third article, “Notes for a Feminist Abolitionist Genealogy of Bioethics,” comprises an expansion of Shelley Lynn Tremain’s critique of bioethics, calling for the abolition of this subfield of philosophy.
In “Crip Zen: Sick Aesthetics and the Care of the Disabled Self,” the fourth article in the issue, Christina Lee assumes a transcultural feminist disability studies approach to examine how marginalized women can employ Foucault’s late work on the care of the self to construct a radical aesthetics and politics of self-care.
In the fifth article, entitled “On Being Incorrigible,” Stephanie C. Jenkins uses Foucault and lyrics from the rock band Phish to create an “anti-essay,” a piece of writing that betrays, subverts, and exceeds the conventions of the academic philosopher’s standard piece of work, with its (inaccessible) structure, format, and terminology.
In the final article, “Cisciety Must Be Defended: A Foucauldian Account of Cisness,” Perry Zurn offers a systematic Foucauldian account of cisgender and cisnormativity—that is, a Foucauldian theory of cisness from a queer and trans perspective that foregrounds the imbrication of that category in colonial, ableist, and racist social structures, practices, and identities.
The final contribution to the issue is an interview with Ladelle McWhorter, conducted by Kristin Rodier and Emily R. Douglas, in which McWhorter discusses a range of topics of particular interest to feminist Foucault scholars.
The journal thanks all the authors for their contributions to this challenging and rich collection, and thanks Shelley Tremain for proposing this special issue and working to realize this dynamic contribution to philosophical and feminist scholarship.
Articles
Finally, Foucault Reframing Foucault from the Margins (Guest Editor’s Introduction)
Shelley Lynn Tremain
Old Discipline, New Medium LLMs and the Neoliberal University
Mich Ciurria
The Self-Formation of Sex Workers A Foucauldian Reading of Xiaojie in Postsocialist China
Ying Huang
Notes for a Feminist Abolitionist Genealogy of Bioethics
Shelley Lynn Tremain
Crip Zen Foucault Sick Aesthetics and the Care of the Disabled Self
Christina Lee
On Becoming Incorrigible An Anti-Essay Phish Concert Setlist
Stephanie C. Jenkins
Cisciety Must Be Defended A Foucauldian Account of Cisness
Perry Zurn
“We’ve Been Taught to Be Dishonest about Ourselves” Cripping Genealogy in Conversation with Ladelle McWhorter
Kristin Rodier, Emily R. Douglas
Foucault News 