Foucault News

I’ve mentioned before the project to diigitise Foucault’s reading notes which are now archived at the Bibliothèque national de France.

Two interesting pieces report on the project. First, a presentation given at a recent conference which gives an indication of how this will look: Marie-Laure Massot, Jean-Philippe Moreux, Vincent Ventresque, “Expérimenter Transkribus sur les fiches de lecture de Michel Foucault”, presentation; abstract

Intervention dans le cadre du colloque de clôture du projet ANR Foucault Fiches de lecture Seconde partie « Editer Michel Foucault (1994-2021) », le 26 septembre 2020 à la BnF, intitulée “Expérimenter Transkribus sur les fiches de lecture de Michel Foucault”. Entre 1994 et 2021, les textes du philosophe Michel Foucault ont fait l’objet d’une édition posthume. Un colloque dont la seconde partie a lieu à la BnF revient sur les questions qui se sont posées lors de cette entreprise de longue haleine. Cette présentation est en…

Azucena G. Blanco, Literature and Politics in the Later Foucault – De Gruyter, November 2020.

This appears to be currently open access as an e-book.

This study proposes a revised interpretation of Foucault’s views on literature. It has been argued that the philosopher’s interest in literature was limited to the 1960s and of a mostly depoliticized nature. However, Foucault’s previously unpublished later works suggest a different reality, showing a sustained interest in literature and its politics. In the light of this new material, the book repositions Foucault’s ideas within recent debates on the politics of literature.

Perry Zurn, Curiosity and Power: The Politics of Inquiry – University of Minnesota Press, March 2021

Curiosity is political. Who is curious, when, and how reflects the social values and power structures of a given society. InCuriosity and Power, Perry Zurn explores the political philosophy of curiosity, staking the groundbreaking claim that it is a social force—the heartbeat of political resistance and a critical factor in social justice. He argues that the very scaffolding of curiosity is the product of political architectures, and exploring these values and architectures is crucial if we are to better understand, and more ethically navigate, the struggle over inquiry in an unequal world.

Curiosity and Powerexplores curiosity through the lens of political philosophy—weaving in Nietzsche, Foucault, and Derrida in doing so—and the experience of political marginalization, demonstrating that curiosity is implicated equally in the maintenance of societies and in their transformation. Curiosity…

Adam Kotsko, Agamben’s Philosophical Trajectory – Edinburgh University Press, September 2020

• Focuses on Agamben’s intellectual development
• Offers the first study of the complete Homo Sacer series
• Takes into account Agamben’s recently-published memoir
• Addresses the full range of Agamben’s thought on linguistics, poetics, politics and theology

Giorgio Agamben has emerged as one of the most perceptive and even prophetic political thinkers of his era. Now that he has completed his multi-volume Homo Sacer series – his career-defining work – Adam Kotsko, one of his leading translators, shows how Agamben’s political concerns emerged and evolved as he responded to contemporary events and new intellectual influences while striving to remain true to his deepest intuitions. Kotsko reveals the trajectory of Agamben’s work and shows us what it means to practice philosophy as a living, responsive discipline.

Adam Kotsko’s brilliant study provides a chronological and systematic reading of Giorgio Agamben’s writings that allows us…