Foucault News

News and resources on French thinker Michel Foucault (1926-1984)

Feb 23, 2025 Michel Foucault from A to Z. War is certainly not a central entry in Foucault’s vocabulary. Nevertheless, in his lectures “Society Must Be Defended”, he deals extensively with the hypothesis that the model of war is well suited to analyzing the effects of power. In the end, however, he concludes that this …

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Cudworth, E. Resisting Zoopolis: Bordering species relations as a response to COVID-19 (2024) Human-Animal Relationships in Times of Pandemic and Climate Crises: Multispecies Sociology for the New Normal, Edited By Josephine Browne, Zoei Sutton, Routledge, pp. 133-150. DOI: 10.4324/9781003257912-12 Abstract Human publics are now more aware than ever of the presence and threat of zoonotic …

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Dent, C. Governmentality and the Common Law: Expansion of “Mind” 1835–1885 (2024) International Journal for the Semiotics of Law DOI: 10.1007/s11196-024-10217-0 Abstract The nineteenth century saw significant changes in how the law articulated the assessment of those who came before the courts. The judges made greater, and more refined, use of the concept of the …

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Frédéric Gros : “Selon Foucault, la folie n’est rien d’autre que l’inquiétude de la raison”, France Culture, Publié le vendredi 21 février 2025. Radio program, podcast Le philosophe Frédéric Gros nous parle de l’”Histoire de la folie à l’âge classique”, texte qui l’a bouleversé et dans lequel Michel Foucault trace une ligne de crête entre …

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Vrdoljak, T. Foucault’s Culturalist Axiomatic: A Nietzschean Naturalist Rejoinder (2024) Nietzsche-Studien DOI: 10.1515/nietzstu-2024-0013 Abstract The Nietzsche-Foucault relationship has been the subject of extensive scholarship, highlighting their affinity. In contrast, this paper foregrounds what I take to be their most significant point of divergence: it compares Nietzsche’s naturalist to Foucault’s culturalist axiomatic of power. First, I …

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Gouverner les âmes et les corps « Cahiers d’études du religieux. Recherches interdisciplinaires » * * * Abstract Ce dossier thématique des Cahiers d’études du religieux a pour objet d’interroger la pertinence du concept foucaldien de gouvernementalité en sciences religieuses. Plus précisément, on se demandera s’il s’agit là d’un concept opératoire pour décrire la relation …

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Swiffen, A. From European Roots to Settler Soil: Adapting Foucault’s Biopolitics to Canadian Settler Colonialism (2024) Social and Legal Studies DOI: 10.1177/09646639241288075 Abstract This article examines the applicability of Michel Foucault’s biopolitical theory within the Canadian settler colonial context. Foucault’s concept of biopolitics, which describes the shift from sovereign power to the regulation of life …

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Eberl, J.T., Bishop, J.P. Battlestar Galactica as Philosophy: Breaking the Biopolitical Cycle (2024) The Palgrave Handbook of Popular Culture as Philosophy Editors: David Kyle Johnson (Editor-in-Chief), Dean A. Kowalski, Chris Lay, Kimberly S. Engels, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 93-112. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-24685-2_4 Abstract The reimagined Battlestar Galactica series (2003–2009) and its prequel series Caprica (2009–2010) provoked viewers …

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The Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory, Feb 21, 2025 Many blame Michel Foucault for our post-truth and conspiracy-laden society. In this provocative work, Daniele Lorenzini argues that such criticism fundamentally misunderstands the philosopher’s project. Foucault did not question truth itself but what Lorenzini calls “the force of truth,” or how some truth claims are given …

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Brake, M. The Joker as Philosopher: Killing Jokes (2024) The Palgrave Handbook of Popular Culture as Philosophy Editors: David Kyle Johnson (Editor-in-Chief), Dean A. Kowalski, Chris Lay, Kimberly S. Engels, Palgrave Macmillan, pp. 1987-2001. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-031-24685-2_92 Abstract Alan Moore and Brian Bolland’s Batman: The Killing Joke is one of the most popular Batman comic stories, …

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