With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: On Foucault’s Notions of Power, Subjectivity, Freedom and Their (Mis)Understanding in IR

Abstract

This article demonstrates how Foucault’s notion(s) of power can be misappropriated to International Relations (IR) thought. After considering Foucault’s early and late work, the article reveals the complexity of his thought, describing how he developed his notion(s) of power and their effects on subjectivity and freedom. Although a number of IR scholars have revealed the challenges of appropriating Foucaultian thought to IR, their approaches highlight the effects rather than the causes of such (mis)appropriation. By unveiling the causes, this article informs IR scholars on how to avoid this (mis)appropriation and points their attention to the interplay among power, subjectivity and freedom, which is often neglected. Therefore, critical value is added to the Foucaultian IR debate by analysing how Foucault perceived freedom, its association with power and the effects on the subject’s agency.