Foucault News

Toby Seddon, Inventing Drugs: A Genealogy of a Regulatory Concept, Journal of Law and Society, 11 August 2016

doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6478.2016.00760.x

Open access: Full PDF available

Abstract
The trade in, and consumption of, illicit drugs is perhaps the archetypal ‘wicked problem’ of our time – complex, globalized, and seemingly intractable – and presents us with one of the very hardest legal and policy challenges of the twenty-first century. The central concept of a ‘drug’ remains under-theorized and largely neglected by critical socio-legal and criminological scholars. Drawing on a range of primary archival material and secondary sources, this article sets out a genealogy of the concept, assembled a little over a century ago out of diverse lines of development. It is argued that the drug label is an invented legal-regulatory construct closely bound up with the global drug prohibition system. Many contemporary features of the ‘war on drugs’ bear traces of this genealogy, notably how drug law enforcement often contributes to racial and social injustice. To move beyond prohibition, radical law and policy reform may require us to abandon the drug concept entirely.

Thanks to Philip Burton, Philippa Carrington, and Nishat Hyder for assistance with some of the archival research. Embryonic versions were given in Oxford and Sheffield and I thank Ian Loader and Layla Skinns, respectively, for the invitations. Later versions were presented at a ‘Global Humanities’ workshop in Warwick and at a plenary panel at the annual SLSA conference in Lancaster, at the invitations of Susannah Wilson and Suzanne Ost. Virginia Berridge and Robin Room read and commented on a draft. The usual disclaimer applies.

Hannah, M.G.
State knowledge and recurring patterns of state phobia: From fascism to post-politics
(2016) Progress in Human Geography, 40 (4), pp. 476-494.

DOI: 10.1177/0309132515596875

Abstract
This paper identifies some key underlying assumptions of critical political analysis by examining two moments that have brought these assumptions to the fore: the Klaus Croissant affair in West Germany and France in the late 1970s, and Edward Snowden’s revelations in the 21st century regarding the activities of the US National Security Agency. Interesting parallels can be identified between ‘distinction-collapsing discourses’ prominent in the two contexts. The core argument of the paper is that understanding Michel Foucault’s critical stance toward the description of West Germany as ‘fascist’ in 1977 and 1978, and more broadly, toward what he called ‘state phobia’, can help us resist undifferentiated condemnation of state representations under the sign of ‘post-politics’ today. An account of the 1977 Croissant affair, the critical discourses prominent at the time, and Foucault’s critical stance toward the notion of fascism provides an historical parallel for a critical reading of Badiou’s discussion of the state in Being and Event and other works. The final section briefly surveys a number of recent forms of epistemic activism that illustrate the shortcomings of a one-sided reading of state knowledge such as that offered by Badiou and seemingly confirmed by the NSA scandal. © 2015, © The Author(s) 2015.

Author Keywords
Badiou; fascism; Foucault; post-politics; state phobia

Jan Christoph Suntrup, Michel Foucault and the Competing Alethurgies of Law, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies (2016)
doi: 10.1093/ojls/gqw019
First published online: August 9, 2016

Abstract

Law has an epistemic dimension, contributing to the social construction of reality. Legal trials stage the constitution of knowledge, facts and other kinds of truth in accordance with specified rules of procedure and evidence. As legal cultures differ in their conceptions of fairness, of justice, and especially of the nature and depth of the truth envisaged at trial, there is a demand for analytical means that can contribute to a sophisticated comparison of legal procedures of truth production. Some new categories can be found in lectures published in part very recently by Michel Foucault, whose genealogical sketches of juridical forms of truth making have not received the attention they deserve. Foucault distinguishes between three basic forms of legal truth constitution: the test, the inquiry and the examination. As all of these practices are performed in a ritual, liturgical manner, Foucault refers to them as ‘alethurgies’. The critical reconstruction of his foray into the historical stages and transformations of legal truth manifestation not only enables a reassessment of Foucault’s legal thinking, but, more importantly, provides us with categorical devices that might be useful for the comparison of contemporary legal, especially procedural cultures.

Keywords
Michel Foucault truth evidence legal procedures comparative law

Jo, S.J., Park, S.
Critical review on power in organization: empowerment in human resource development
(2016) European Journal of Training and Development, 40 (6), pp. 390-406.

DOI: 10.1108/EJTD-01-2016-0005

Abstract
Purpose: This paper aims to analyze current practices, discuss empowerment from the theoretical perspectives on power in organizations and suggest an empowerment model based on the type of organizational culture and the role of human resource development (HRD). Design/methodology/approach: By reviewing the classic viewpoint of power, Lukes’ three-dimensional power and Foucault’s disciplinary power, we discuss power and empowerment in organizational contexts. Findings: Power in organizations can be conceptualized based on the classic view, Foucault and critical view and Lukes’ three-dimensional power. We found that true employee empowerment is related to the third dimension of power. The role of HRD for empowerment can be categorized into enhancing motivation and commitment in terms of psychological empowerment and bringing real power to employees. The proposed empowerment model assumes that organizational culture influences the dimensions of empowerment and the role of HRD for supporting empowerment. Practical implications: HRD needs to critically assess the meaning of power in particular contexts (Morrell and Wilkinson, 2002) before planning and implementing specific training and development interventions for performance improvement and/or organization development interventions for innovation. Originality/value: This study attempts to review, analyze and discuss issues regarding employee empowerment from HRD perspectives. Implications for the roles of HRD and the empowerment model are proposed. © 2016, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Author Keywords
Classical viewpoint of power; Employee empowerment; Employee participation; Foucault’s disciplinary power; Luke’s three-dimensional power; Organizational culture

Hirtenfelder, C.T.
Masking over ambiguity: Suburban Johannesburg police reservists and the uniform fetish
(2016) Policing and Society, 26 (6), pp. 659-679.

DOI: 10.1080/10439463.2015.1012168

Abstract
Using McClintock’s theoretical concept ‘fetish’ and Foucault’s ‘bio-power’, this article explores what ambiguous perceptions of themselves reservists use the uniform to mask and how these are articulated through difference. Conducting an analysis of discourses using data collected from interviews with 23 suburban Johannesburg reservists, this article finds that the most prevalent ambiguities reservists manage circulate vulnerability and control as well as fear of belonging and legitimacy. However, these anxieties are not purely managed through the uniform and are further complicated by expectations of particular bodies shaped through history. Exploring fetish and ambiguities through data and discourses relating the uniform provides a novel means from which to grapple with the complexity of reservists’ subjugation without falling into a dichotomous, a-historical trap. © 2015 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.

Author Keywords
fetish; identity; Johannesburg; policing; reservists; SAPS