Foucault News

Corinne Weisgerber, Shannan H. Butler,
Curating the Soul: Foucault’s concept of hupomnemata and the digital technology of self-care
(2016) Information Communication and Society, 19 (10), pp. 1340-1355.
https://doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2015.1088882

Abstract
This paper explores how online actions such as the practice of digital self-writing shape our offline identity. We start with an examination of the concept of hupomnemata – a practice of self-writing in which notes are kept as a ‘material record of things read, heard, or thought’ in the intent of shaping the self [Foucault (1997). Self writing. In P. Rabinow (Ed.), Ethics, subjectivity and truth. The essential works of Foucault, 1954–1984. Volume 1 (pp. 207–222). New York, NY: The New Press p. 209] – before arguing that the practice of digital content curation can be understood as a modern-day variant of the Greco-Roman hupomnemata. Although the work of the digital curator is conducted online, this paper positions contemporary curatorial practices as acts of self-exploration, self-cultivation, and self-care, which nourish offline identity and which ultimately work to shape the offline, corporeal self. © 2015 Taylor & Francis.

Author Keywords
digital curation; Hupomnemata; identity

Thörn, H.
Politics of responsibility: governing distant populations through civil society in Mozambique, Rwanda and South Africa
(2016) Third World Quarterly, 37 (8), pp. 1505-1523.

DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2015.1136207

Abstract
This article presents and analyses the findings of a research project on power relations in the context of development partnerships with civil society on HIV/AIDS in Mozambique, Rwanda and South Africa, and engages in a critical dialogue with governmentality analysis. It argues that contemporary neoliberal government needs to be understood as context-specific articulations of three forms of power discussed by Foucault – sovereignty, discipline and biopower – and, in the global domain, a fourth form of power – (new) imperialism. Further, the analysis demonstrates how the introduction of a ‘package of (de-)responsibilisation’ shapes CSOs’ activities so that they become competitive service providers, use evidence-based methods and produce measurable results. Addressing the issue of resistance, it shows how the transfer of responsibilities may involve tension and struggle – a politics of responsibility. © 2016 Southseries Inc., http://www.thirdworldquarterly.com.

Author Keywords
civil society; development partnerships; global governance; Global governmentality; international aid; sub-Saharan Africa

Fathallah, J.
‘Except that Joss Whedon is god’: fannish attitudes to statements of author/ity
(2016) International Journal of Cultural Studies, 19 (4), pp. 459-476.

DOI: 10.1177/1367877914537589

Abstract
Early internet and fan studies theorists believed the New Media context and work of the active fan would bring theories like the Death of the Author to fruition. Contemporary fan studies scholars are more reserved, acknowledging diversity in fan attitudes. Through analysis of a LiveJournal article with comments on authors’ views concerning fanfiction, this article demonstrates the paradoxical investment in various forms of authorial authority espoused across fan communities, as well as defiance and repudiation of them. I argue that while the authors quoted are denied legitimate authority through various tactics, the concept of an originating, proprietary authorship, with attendant capitalist powers and rights, retains much influence. The concept of the author holds more power than the individual figures attempting to wield it, and fans attribute or deny the power of authorship to particular figures according to their public personas and cultural politics. In this sense, fans may withhold or bestow legitimation through the operation of Foucault’s author-function, interpreting text and statements of authority through the public persona of the author. © 2014, © The Author(s) 2014.

Author Keywords
audience; author; authority; Barthes; fan studies; fanfiction; Foucault

Chang, H.-C.
The normalisation of body gifting in Taiwan
(2016) BioSocieties, 11 (2), pp. 135-151.

DOI: 10.1057/biosoc.2015.29

Abstract
The Tzu Chi Foundation has made body gifting, such as body donation, bone marrow donation and cord blood donation, successful in Taiwan. Using Foucault’s theoretical framework of governmentality and normalisation, this article discusses how a Buddhist charity, the Tzu Chi Foundation, normalises body gifting in Taiwan through their campaigns, system and philosophy. It argues that Buddhist discourses of karma create a ‘benefit-all altruism’ in body gifting. Furthermore, the emergence of the Tzu Chi Foundation in the last five decades has been a process of discipline and norm construction. The Tzu Chi Foundation, with its comprehensive missions, builds up an extensive network to spread their philosophy in different fields, from environmental protection and humanity education to medical care. The practice-oriented and community-based volunteer system helps the ‘giving’ ideology take root in the communities in Taiwan. Finally, through the media and the Internet, the effect goes beyond the institutional boundaries and reaches the public. © 2016 Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

Author Keywords
Body gifting; Foucault; Normalisation; Taiwan; Tzu Chi