Michel Foucault and Power Today

Few thinkers have left such an influence across such a diverse range of studies as Michel Foucault has. This book pays homage to that diversity by presenting a multidisciplinary series of analyses dedicated to the question of power today.

Foucault's thought finds innumerable applications across the social sciences, from studies in the social aspects of the medical practices and criminal sociology to juridical and economic sciences. Owing to their philosophical ramifications, his ideas have also impacted the spheres of literary studies, ethics, political thought, and 'critical ontology.' Few thinkers have left such an influence across such a diverse range of studies. Contributors attempt to pay homage to that diversity by presenting a multidisciplinary series of analyses dedicated to the question of 'power today.' Drawn from a number of papers presented at an international conference entitled 'Michel Foucault and social Control: conducted at Maison de la culture CTte-des-Neiges in Montreal on May 8-10, 2004 to commemorate the twentieth anniversary of Foucault's death, the essays that comprise this volume address the issue at both a theoretical level and as it pertains to specific fields of practice. In addition to paying tribute to Foucault's achievements and situating his thought within the French and larger European context from which it emerged, these essays also re-evaluate the relevance of Foucault's ideas for understanding contemporary conditions. This book is suited for a broad academic audience in the humanities and Social Sciences, especially philosophy, sociology, and cultural studies.

Chapter 1 Law & Politics
Chapter 2 Michel Foucault and the Obsolescent State: Between the American Century and the Dawn of the European Union
Chapter 3 The Immanence of Law in Power: Reading Foucault with Agamben
Chapter 4 The Hybrid Character of Control in the Work of Michel Foucault
Chapter 5 Politics & Culture
Chapter 6 No Copper Tops Left Behind: Foucault, The Matrix, and the Future of Compulsory Schooling
Chapter 7 It Does Too Matter: Michel Foucault, John Coltrane, and Dominant Positions
Chapter 8 Psychiatry
Chapter 9 Foucault and Psychiatric Power after Madness & Civilization
Chapter 10 From Psychiatry to Bio-Politics or the Birth of the Bio-Security State
Chapter 11 Health Care
Chapter 12 Genetic Responsibility and Neo-Liberal Governmentality: Medical Diagnosis as Moral Technology
Chapter 13 The Problem with High Maintenance Bodies or The Politics of Care
Chapter 14 The French Context
Chapter 15 Subverting Social Order: Foucault and Derrida on the Role of the Intellectual