Foucault, Neoliberalism, and Beyond

(Hardback)

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Few philosophers have garnered as much attention globally as Michel Foucault. But even within this wide reception, the consideration given to his relationship to neoliberalism has been noteworthy. However, the debate over this relationship has given rise to a great deal of polemics and confusion. This volume brings together leading figures in the field to provide a reliable guide to one of the most controversial subjects in recent continental thought. It puts across the case for Foucaults importance for post-colonial, race, queer and feminist studies, among other areas, and opens up his relationship to neoliberalism to offer a broader picture of tensions brewing within the left more generally.

Reviews

This volume dismantles any simple link between Foucault and neoliberalism, leaving us with parts for reassembly into politics of our own. -- Quinn Slobodian, Associate Professor of History, Wellesley College
Foucaults lectures on liberal and neoliberal governmentality at the end of the 1970s have provoked multiple controversies over the evolution of his thought and politics. This excellent collection of essays provides a wealth of historical detail and analysis that helps to situate these lectures in relation to their time and to the trajectory and sources of his thought. This book is indispensable for an informed appreciation of Foucaults work during this period and its relation to a key moment in French and global history. -- Paul Patton, Hongyi Chair Professor of Philosophy, Wuhan University
In recent political debate, the question of Michel Foucaults notoriously ambiguous relationship to neoliberalism has become a cypher for all kinds of contemporary preoccupations on the left. But do we really know what Foucault was responding to This volume performs the immensely valuable work of historicizing Foucaults relationship to Marxism, neoliberalism and the so-called second left. Making no attempt to definitively resolve the question of Foucaults political sympathies, the papers in this volume meticulously document the unique political challenges of the late 1970s and manage to be all the more illuminating about our contemporary predicament. This brilliant volume will transform the tenor of contemporary debate around Foucault, neoliberalism, and the revolutionary left. -- Melinda Cooper, Associate Professor in the School of Social and Political Science, University of Sydney

Author Bio

Stephen W. Sawyer is Professor of History at the American University of Paris Daniel Steinmetz-Jenkins is a Lecturer at the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs.