Foucault News

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

Anna-Verena Nosthoff, Kybernetik und Kritik. Eine Theorie digitaler Regierungskunst, Suhrkamp, 2026. Elon Musk bezeichnet die Plattform X als »kybernetische Superintelligenz«, Mark Zuckerberg denkt Unternehmen als »lernende Organismen«, und der Erfinder der Datenbrille Google Glass sagt: »Die Kybernetik ist überall, wie Luft.« Diese Aussagen kommen nicht von ungefähr. Wer die Digitalisierung verstehen will, muss auf ihre …

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Rainer Mühlhoff, The Ethics of AI. Power, Critique, Responsibility, Bristol University Press, 2025 Available open access digitally under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. In a world where artificial intelligence increasingly influences the fabric of our daily lives, this accessible book offers a critical examination of AI and its deep entanglement with power structures. Rather than focusing on doomsday …

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Jan-Philipp Siebold, Annemarie Witschas, Rainer Mühlhoff, 2026. “ When the Future Feels Foreclosed: AI Resignation and the Power to Act.” Future Humanities 4: e70026. https://doi.org/10.1002/fhu2.70026. ABSTRACT This article develops the concept of ‘AI resignation’ to capture how young people encounter AI not only as a helpful or flawed tool, but as an overpowering and seemingly …

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Editor: I have added the following statement to the About page on Foucault News. Statement about generative AI I do not support the outsourcing of research and writing to generative AI. This is sometimes (often) very hard to detect. If you notice posts on work that falls into this category, please let me know. The …

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Giorgi Vachnadze, Genealogies of Formal Systems. Substack (2025-) Giorgi Vachnadze is a writer and researcher focused on Foucault and Wittgenstein, working at the intersection of philosophy, critical theory, and contemporary issues such as AI, education policy, and algorithmic governance. Recent posts include: Ἑαυτοῦ Ἡνίοχος: Piloting the Self Liberating the Care of the Self from Plato …

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Ilaria Santoemma, From Pervasive Technologies to Technology of the Self. A Counter-Subjectivation argument for a Shift in the Critical Theory of Cyberspace, Soft Power, pp. 49-68 Issue 22 (11,2) July-December 2024 https://doi.org/10.14718/SoftPower.2024.11.2.3 Abstract This paper aims to contribute to the discourse on the intersection of power dynamics and subjectivation processes as explored in critical theory, …

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Call for Abstracts: Intellect Handbook of Cinema and the Anthropocene H-Announce link We are pleased to announce a forthcoming edited volume, Intellect Handbook of Cinema and the Anthropocene. The volume will bring together original scholarship that examines the relationship between cinema and the Anthropocene from a variety of perspectives. It is intended as a resource …

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Federico Jose T. Lagdameo, “Digital Governmentality: Technological Subjectivation and AI”, Kaabigan: Journal of the Panpacific University, Vol. 3:2, 1-17 (July 2025) doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.16786093 Abstract: This article develops a Foucauldian analysis of artificial intelligence technologies, particularly large language models such as ChatGPT, as contemporary technologies of power. Building upon Michel Foucault’s genealogical critique of disciplinary and …

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Pan, S., & Mou, Y. (2025). Dancing With a Loving Chatbot: Power Dynamics Between Women and Their AI Partners. Social Science Computer Review, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/08944393251340693 Abstract With the growing prevalence and accessibility of AI companions, contemporary women are forming relationships with virtual partners. It is important to examine the relational, social, and gender-related implications of …

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