Foucault News

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

Luca Mavelli, Governing the resilience of neoliberalism through biopolitics (2017) European Journal of International Relations, 23 (3), pp. 489-512. https://doi.org/10.1177/1354066116676321 Abstract Neoliberalism is widely regarded as the main culprit for the 2007/2008 global financial crisis. However, despite this abysmal failure, neoliberalism has not merely survived the crisis, but actually ‘thrived’. How is it possible to …

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Lev Marder, Rethinking homo economicus in the political sphere. Constellations, 31 August 2017 https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8675.12295 Abstract: Homo-economicus, this rational cost-benefit calculating interest-pursuing subject, in political analysis usually stands for the ordinary citizen little interested in unprofitable political knowledge. This subject appears as an obstacle to democratic governance, but it does not have to appear as such. …

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William Davies, What Is “Neo” About Neoliberalism?, New Republic, July 13, 2017 How to tell the difference between liberalism and something else. In the buildup to the 2015 General Election, Nigel Farage, leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), reiterated his support for an “Australian-style points system” as a means of controlling immigration, the policy …

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Paul Sutton, Lost souls? The demoralization of academic labour in the measured university, Higher Education Research & Development Vol. 36 , Iss. 3,2017 DOI: 10.1080/07294360.2017.1289365 ABSTRACT In this conceptual paper, I contend that the soul of academic labour is becoming lost in performativity. Performativity, I explain, is a form of regulation and control that deploys …

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Stephen J Ball, Neoliberal education? Confronting the slouching beast, Policy Futures in education, Volume: 14 issue: 8, page(s): 1046-1059 Article first published online: August 23, 2016;Issue published: November 1, 2016 DOI: 10.1177/1478210316664259 Abstract A major aim of this paper is to draw attention to the insidious manner in which the deficit discourse and practices associated …

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Liz Kirwan* and Kathy Hall, The mathematics problem: the construction of a market-led education discourse in the Republic of Ireland, Critical Studies in Education, Vol. 57, No. 3, 2016, 376–393. DOI: 10.1080/17508487.2015.1102752 Educational change in the neoliberal state is permeated by the effects of forces from outside the field of education itself. The process of …

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Rodrigo Cordero, Crisis and Critique: On the Fragile Foundations of Social Life. Routledge, 2017 Fragility is a condition that inhabits the foundations of social life. It remains mostly unnoticed until something breaks and dislocates the sense of completion. In such moments of rupture, the social world reveals the stuff of which it is made and …

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Formosinho, M., Jesus, P., Reis, C. Emancipatory and critical language education: a plea for translingual possible selves and worlds (2016) Critical Studies in Education, pp. 1-19. Article in Press. DOI: 10.1080/17508487.2016.1237983 Abstract Language is the main resource for meaningful action, including the very formation of selves and psychosocial identities, shaped by practical norms, beliefs, and …

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Lambert, K., Wright, P., Currie, J., Pascoe, R. Embodiment and becoming in secondary drama classrooms: the effects of neoliberal education cultures on performances of self and of drama texts (2016) Critical Studies in Education, pp. 1-19. Article in Press. DOI: 10.1080/17508487.2016.1238402 Abstract This article explores the effects of neoliberalism and performative educational cultures on secondary …

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Heffernan, A. The Emperor’s perfect map: leadership by numbers (2016) Australian Educational Researcher, 43 (3), pp. 377-391. DOI: 10.1007/s13384-016-0206-7 Abstract This paper establishes that system-generated data profiles are influencing the work of principals in three Queensland state schools. Drawing upon Foucault’s notions of governance, as well as research emphasising performative cultures and the importance placed …

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