Foucaultian Perspective Research Articles

Critical agency, resistance and a post-colonial civil society

IR’s dominant theoretical and methodological approaches are, to varying degrees, compliance oriented. IR needs a theory of resistance if it is to survive its current methodological and ethical crisis. Resistance, read from a broadly Foucaultian perspective, is a process in which hidden, small-scale and marginal agencies have an impact on power, on norms, civil society, the state and the ‘international’. This may be in the form of individual or grass-roots critical agency not coordinated or mobilized on a large scale but still globally connected. Such agency is often discursive and aimed at peaceful change and transformation. Through such critical agency a post-colonial civil society has emerged, which is transversal, transnational, fragmented, but may be constitutive of new, hybrid and post-liberal forms of peace.

The Low Pass Rate in the RANZCP Clinical Examinations: Is the Exam the Problem?

The aim of this study was to examine the role of supervision during psychiatric training in ensuring that registrars are adequately trained to meet the standards of the RANZCP examinations and to consider the implications for improving examination pass rates. Audiotaped recordings of 50 h of supervision involving six supervisors and thirteen trainees, obtained 2000-2003, were transcribed and analysed thematically in a qualitative study, informed by a postmodern, foucaultian perspective. Until an examination loomed, supervisors rarely required evidence of theoretical study or structured case presentations from their trainees. The examination and the examiners served to justify the supervisors requiring such discipline. This enabled the supervisors to remain in a supportive role, while requiring higher standards from trainees. Paradoxically, while requiring higher standards 'for the exam', trainees were told that the examiners expected nothing more than 'good psychiatric practice'. In presenting cases, the attributes of prioritization, thoughtfulness, conciseness and good timing were valued, as reported in both undergraduate and other postgraduate medical training. Much of supervision bore little relationship to preparation for college examinations until these were imminent. While the daily practice of trainees and supervisors continues to be at variance with the practices required to pass the examination (reflected by reference to 'exam-style' and 'non-exam style' presentations) the pass rates will remain low. If we believe that the standard set in the examination is that required of a practising psychiatrist, change is required to supervision and daily practice standards to reflect these standards.

Ensino de Filosofia na Escola: (Im) Possibilidades Ante a Crise da Modernidade

This paper is intended to reflect on the (im)possibilities of teaching Philosophy and, especially, the philosophical experience in schools from a Foucaultian perspective. In this sense, I will develop this topic based on two main issues: (a) how are the teaching and the practice in Philosophy working and happening nowadays? (b) what are the alternatives in order for it to work and to occur differently? In the first question, we discuss the condition of Philosophy teaching in the school due to the crisis of modernity. Thus, in the very first moment, we will reflect on the subjectivity process in the teaching of Philosophy in relation to the process of the modern standard subject. Then, we will analyze the (im)possibilities of teaching Philosophy as a philosophical experience in face of the crisis of the modern experience patterns. In the second question, based on the philosophical production of the so-called “third Foucault”, we will seek an alternative view to the teaching of Philosophy that, from an ethics and an immanent aesthetics of self-care, allows thinking other forms of subjectivity production

Critical Criminology Meets Radical Constructivism

Critical criminology and radical constructivism are frequently regarded as an impossible pair—or, at least, as a rather schizophrenic one. This is so, notably, because radical constructivism rests on the (paradoxical) abandonment of what Jean-Francois Lyotard named meta-recits. It rests on the refusal to distinguish between the phenomenal and the symbolic, and thus implies the complete vanishing of the classical difference between ontology and epistemology. This would consequently deprive criminology (or, more generally, the social sciences) of any anchoring point enabling a critical utterance. The present contribution’s thesis is that, on the contrary, radical constructivism can catalyze critical criminology. Among the possible contributions of a radically constructivist sociology of criminalization, this paper focuses on: its call for a reworking of the concept of social control, which avoids problems related to its contemporary usage; its focus on power and force, in a way which avoids Foucaultian perspectives’ aporetic elements, and problematizes every instance of legitimized authoritarian practices.

Discipline, Surveillance, Control: A Foucaultian Perspective on the Enforcement of Planning Regulations

Enforcement is one of the most contentious aspects of any planning system. Indeed, much recent academic work has tried to deal with the challenge of facilitating compliance with planning regulations. However, this work has not fully understood the ways in which power is used within the planning system to regulate and control individual behavior. This paper is different—it approaches planning regulation through a Foucaultian lens to focus critical attention on how spaces become governable for planning purposes. It identifies how behavioural norms are established, how citizens become active in their own surveillance and policing, and documents the ways in which public bodies publicise acts of punishment to create compliant subjects.

De que é capaz o eu-multicultural?

Podemos visitar uma escola de educação infantil, de ensino fundamental ou médio e reconhecermos uma educação para a produção de sujeitos diferentes, orientados a conduzirem as suas ações de um modo multicultural. Neste artigo, analiso como o governo do multiculturalismo realiza-se pelo funcionamento das tecnologias do eu - reflexivo, sentimental, cidadão e livre -, operadas pelo dispositivo etnomatemático. Mostro como essas tecnologias combinam-se com outras técnicas e práticas específicas de governo da subjetividade multicultural. Aponto para a produtividade analítica que a perspectiva foucaultiana oferece para pensar outras possibilidades de experimentar a educação no presente.

Governmental, Political and Pedagogic Subjectivation: Foucault with Rancière

Starting from a Foucaultian perspective, the article draws attention to current developments that neutralise democracy through the ‘governmentalisation of democracy’ and processes of ‘governmental subjectivation’. Here, ideas of Rancière are introduced in order to clarify how democracy takes place through the paradoxical process of ‘political subjectivation’, that is, a disengagement with governmental subjectivation through the verification of one's equality in demonstrating a wrong. We will argue that democracy takes place through the paradoxical process of political subjectivation, and that today's consensus society tends to depoliticize all processes of subjectivation. A final step in the argumentation is to introduce the concept of ‘pedagogic subjectivation’—to be understood as the experience of potentiality—that is to be distinguished from governmental subjectivation and also from political subjectivation. The concept ‘pedagogic subjectivation’ is proposed as a way of thinking of the school as a public place.

Reflecting on the moral bases of critical pedagogy in PETE: toward a Foucaultian perspective on ethics and the care of the self

In teacher education and in physical education teacher education (PETE), the possibilities and pitfalls of critical pedagogy (CP) for transforming society have been frequently debated. From these debates, it has become quite clear that the lines separating ‘technocrats’ from ‘radicals’ are so strongly drawn that limit the advance of PETE. In the spirit of collegiality, we offer an alternative approach to CP based on Foucault's genealogical work on the History of Sexuality. It promotes a pedagogical perspective toward the development of ethics and the care of the self. We argue that this approach, far from discrediting what non-critical pedagogues do, can not only advance the practice of CP, but also open up new ways of conceptualizing PETE that are worth considering both by critical pedagogues and by the members of other pedagogical camps. We discuss the implications of this approach in the personal, social–professional and political spheres.

The embodied state: governmentality in a Brazilian favela

Given that the influence of the state apparatus tends to vary across space, it has been frequently presumed that the state develops a stronger presence in wealthier neighborhoods (where levels of capital accumulation are higher) than it does in poorer ones. In Brazilian favelas (urban slums), as a prominent example, ethnographic accounts have previously suggested that the presence of the ‘official’ state is limited and on the decline. Based on the results of intensive fieldwork in Fortaleza, Brazil, this paper complicates that argument, positing that the state, through the effects of governmentality, may actually have a much stronger presence in favelas than has often been presumed. Drawing upon case research with favela residents, and interpreting through a Foucaultian perspective, this paper explains the increasing presence of the state through the governmentality produced in urban space. By recognizing how the state manifests both in and through bodies and space, researchers are provided better traction for understanding proliferating urban slums and explaining the political landscapes they engender.

Nursing, nutrition and physiotherapy students: career choice

In the perspective of career choice, entering university encompasses meanings of self-accomplishment and social status, which are permeated by concepts and ideals people construct in their lives. This study aimed to analyze regimes of truth that permeate career choice in nursing, physiotherapy and nutrition. This qualitative-descriptive study was carried out with undergraduate freshmen. Data were collected through focus groups, evaluated by discourse analysis from a Foucaultian perspective. The following themes emerged from the analysis: career choice: crowning a process of social differentiation, reflexes of professions' history of acknowledgement; career choice beyond professional projects. Discourse highlights that scientific knowledge acquires status in relations of power between different professions and society and is essential that health professional education is linked to public policies that expand the participation of different professions so as to meet demands in favor of integral care.

Democracies in Action: A Foucaultian Perspective on British and French Tax Enforcement

Theoriser sur la democratie conduit a l’envisager comme un ideal abstrait et universel, un concept fondateur desincarne. La democratie doit egalement etre apprehendee comme une pratique discursive melant pouvoir et savoir, complexe et enracinee dans un contexte socio-culturel particulier. En effet, le concept de « gouvernementalite » elabore par Michel Foucault nous permet d’apprehender la Democratie comme le produit culturel, diversifie et concret, de rapports de pouvoir. Les specificites culturelles, temporelles, contextuelles de la Democratie se revelent par exemple au travers des relations entre l’administration fiscale et les grandes entreprises. Sous les apparences d’un encadrement juridique strict se devoilent des pratiques de pouvoir contingentes et variables que l’on peut comparer. Ainsi, la Democratie en France revele une attitude toute differente a la question du respect des regles fiscales et du dialogue possible entre administration et grandes entreprises, que celle adoptee dans le cadre democratique britannique. La possibilite de faire accepter l’imposition est au cœur du dispositif fiscal britannique. En France, la relation entre le Fisc et les grandes entreprises se caracterise par une volonte de dominer et controler le contribuable et ne laisse aucune place au dialogue.

Foucault, Ethical Self-concern and the Other

In his later writings on ethics Foucault argues that rapport a soi – the relationship to oneself – is what gives meaning to our commitment to ‘moral behaviour’. In the absence of rapport a soi, Foucault believes, ethical adherence collapses into obedience to rules (‘an authoritarian structure’). I make a case, in broadly Levinasian terms, for saying that the call of ‘the other’ is fundamental to ethics. This prompts the question whether rapport a soi fashions an ethical subject who is unduly self-concerned. Here we confront two apparently irreconcilable pictures of the source of moral demands. I describe one way of trying to reconcile them from a Foucaultian perspective, and I note the limitations in the attempt. I also try to clear away what I think to be a misunderstanding on Foucault’s part about what is at stake in the choice between these pictures. To clarify my critique of Foucault, I also relate it to a similar recent critique of virtue ethics by Thomas Hurka.

Disciplinary power and education: A foucaultian approach in Social Psychology

As a descendant of the Enlightenment, the school is still a vital modern institution, albeit in contemporary post-modern conditions. This article takes a Foucaultian perspective to analyse the power / knowledge and the regimes of truth involved. The arguments is that the power of the school comes from the inertial force of custom, which normalises  the school's disciplinary, sanctionary, instructional, and corrective practices. The modern educational project uses disciplinary methods that promote autoidiscipline and auto-regulation. Its instructional processes promote individualist learning, and its rituals turn habituation into internalisation. Consistent with the critical sentiments of a Social Psychology of Education, we propose a comprehensive approach to education and its links to acculturation, instruction, and schooling.  We use a critical radical pedagogy and post-structuralist analysis to argue for the need to rethink contemporary education.   

Una tensa oscuridad: interrogando el abordaje psicosocial de la subjetividad

Abordamos en este artículo algunas reflexiones en torno al estudio psicosocial de la subjetividad, subrayando el diálogo transdisciplinar y la obra de autores alejados del marco convencional de la Psicología Social. El texto señala algunas de las tensiones y paradojas que el estudio del self plantea, así como algunas de las aportaciones teóricas cruciales para reflexionar acerca de ellas. Brevemente, y con una perspectiva foucaultiana, bosquejaremos los nudos de complejidad en torno al estudio de la historicidad del sujeto, su experiencia temporal y coherente, las dimensiones corporales y materiales, la dimensión inconsciente, la tensión entre sujeción y agencia y el carácter generizado de la subjetividad.

Life Stories – research notes and reflections

As a descendant of the Enlightenment, the school is still a vital modern institution, albeit in contemporary post-modern conditions. This article takes a Foucaultian perspective to analyse the power / knowledge and the regimes of truth involved. The arguments is that the power of the school comes from the inertial force of custom, which normalises  the school's disciplinary, sanctionary, instructional, and corrective practices. The modern educational project uses disciplinary methods that promote autoidiscipline and auto-regulation. Its instructional processes promote individualist learning, and its rituals turn habituation into internalisation. Consistent with the critical sentiments of a Social Psychology of Education, we propose a comprehensive approach to education and its links to acculturation, instruction, and schooling.  We use a critical radical pedagogy and post-structuralist analysis to argue for the need to rethink contemporary education.   

The Informalization of the Parent-Child Relationship: An Investigation of Parenting Discourses Produced in Australia in the Inter-War Years

Drawing on the work of Norbert Elias, this article will explore the informalization of the parent-child relationship as reflected in parenting literature produced in Australia in the inter-war years. Authors of this literature have placed limits on the use of violence, discourage authoritarian disciplinary methods, and promote children's independence and autonomy. It is the contention of this article that these attempts to transform child-rearing practices can be interpreted as part of what Elias called the “civilizing process,” by which a greater capacity for self-control is exacted on the part of both children and parents. It will also be argued that Elias's framework offers an alternative approach to Marxist and Foucaultian perspectives that place emphasis on social control.

To See Patents as Devices of Uncertain (But Contingent) Quality: A Foucaultian Perspective

Commentators argue that the patent system is uncertain and that the uncertainty should be reduced. The application of a Foucaultian perspective demonstrates that the interdisciplinary nature of the system means that it will necessarily be uncertain - where uncertainty is understood to be the result of a lack of understanding produced by differences in the training of the personnel involved. In the words of Foucault, the argument is that uncertainty is unavoidable because of the different discourses and different internalised discursive practices that constitute the patent system overall. The multiple groups of players that contribute to the system results in many actions being observed across discursive boundaries. The article differentiates between perceptions that are contingent (intra-discursive understandings) and uncertain (inter-discursive understandings). The discursive nature of the system also, however, produces its stability. The reproduction of the discourses through the repetition of discursive practices means that the system, overall, has significant inertia.

Ways of interacting: The standardization of communication in medical training

This study explains the effects of medical institutionalization on the framing of doctor—patient interviews. We draw on Weberian, Habermasian, and Foucaultian perspectives to explain the ways that occupational rationalities are embodied in doctor—patient encounters, and how these rationalities structure and are structured by occupational conceptions of medical clients. We use the results of par ticipant-obser ver methods to demonstrate specific instances of the ways in which organization—client interactions are simulated in a standardized patient training programme. Finally, we discuss findings with respect to our theoretical perspectives, showing how each perspective contributes unique insights into understandings of organizations and the communities they serve.

Estranho medo da inclusão

This article has for its objective the analysis of the discourses on “inclusion”, which always point towards a determinate degree of selectivity and emphasize difference through prejudice. The contradiction of these discourses, within the Foucaultian perspective, begins to be evidenced through the archeology of the institutional structures composing the different forms of organizations of societies in their contradictions and different social practices. In exchange, the sentiment of segregation instigates a perfectioning of defenses, creating other structures parallel to the State, that could turn out to be more violent that the stated offences. The trends of the discourses on inclusion are rooted in extremely varied peripheries of social problems that have always been denominated anomalies and which propose to conjugate the distribution of normalization and which sustain “disciplinary power” implicit in society, always directed to reducing or neutralizing existing conflicts. It is found that the discourse on inclusion supports itself on other systems and mechanisms of exclusion, supporting a conjunction of institutional strategies while, at the same time, being reinforced and conducted by deeper social practices. Inclusion aligns itself in historical defenses that traverse general orientations, joined not only inn regulations, which are independent of individual compromises with possible change, for its resistances are found in the very structures of society that have always been discriminating, hence segregative. Contradictorily, it is this very society that produces discourses on inclusion, as a moralized and resolved social practice. These discourses cannot be understood separately from these practices, in their different correlations of forces and contradictions.

Towards a bio-territorial conception of power: Territory, population, and environmental narratives in Palestine and Israel

Abstract In this paper, I investigate recent Palestinian and Israeli environmental narratives as effects of power. I also read differences between both styles of narration as differences in conceptions and experiences of power. While Palestinian environmental narratives for the most part build on a Weberian perception of power (sovereign-territorial), their Israeli counterparts subscribe to what could be described as a Foucaultian perspective of power (bio-power). These underlying perceptions of power lead to forms of resistance that are focused on property rights and questions of sovereignty in Palestine and on concerns over quality of life of the population in Israel. By constructing theoretical distinctions between territory and population, Palestinian and Israeli environmental narratives continue a strongly entrenched tradition in theories of state, power, and governmentality. In this paper, I provide a critique of this ontological distinction between territory and population and argue that the distinction itself should be recognized as an effect of power: by attending to its territorial forms, power's exercise on the level of population (gender, class, color) is rendered benign; and, by focusing on quality of life of the population, power's expression in territorial forms is often deemed irrelevant for environmental knowledge and action. This critique of power calls for further research on and discusses implications of a bio-territorial conceptualization of power, as well as attendant forms of resistance.