Foucault on Power

Abstract

I 4IHICHEL FOUCAULT'S WORK, his studies of the prison,' of particular criminals and their crimes,2 of the historical roots of sexuality,3 and of a range of social scientific,4 medical, and paramedical discourses,5 may seem at first glance to be, at best, only obtusely connected with the concerns of both liberal and Marxist political thought. But to take this view is to fail to appreciate the central concerns of his work. Nor should we see his recent recognition of the importance of power in society simply as a minor concession to the concerns of traditional political analysis,6 one that leaves his work and objects of study still essentially idiosyncratic, obscure, and of doubtful relevance to the more serious debates of political theory. An interpretation of Foucault that fails to recognize that his project is to undermine and replace the classical liberal and Marxian formulations of the nature of politics, as an object of study as well as of practice, is one that fundamentally misunderstands his work. Of course, his attempt to do this may well be idiosyncratic, and its favor among the disenchanted radicals of the left may be short-lived; Foucault's work may simply be the latest fad with little lasting substance-but we cannot simply assume this. Yet it is quite possible that without an attempt to consider Foucault seriously outside the somewhat rarified atmosphere of the circles and publications of his acolytes, the dominant traditions will successfully