Course info

Michel Foucault (1924-1984) repeatedly stated that he wished his work to be used as a toolbox over which he wanted no control. Taking him on his word, this workshop will introduce a number of key concepts of his philosophy and explore how they can be put to use in individual projects and explorations. Therefore, the participants’ projects will partly define the outline of the course.

Dag Heede will begin by giving a brief introduction that outlines the body of Foucault’s oeuvre beginning with the large 1960 volume Histoire de la folie (Madness and Civilization), which became an important tool in the anti-psychiatry movement. Then the he and the participants will discuss the ”structuralist” phase with Foucault’s critique of medicine, La naissance de la clinique (The birth of the clinic), the critique of the humanities and the notion of man, Les mots et les choses (The order of things) and the critique of language, L’archéologie de savoir (The archeology of knowledge). From there the focus will be on the famous and highly influential critiques of power in Surveiller et punir (Discipline and punish) and the first volume of the Histoire de la sexualité (The history of sexuality), La volonté de savoir (The will to know). Finally the course will discuss the last two volumes, L’Usage des plaisirs (The Uses of pleasure) and Le souci de soi (The care of the self) plus the posthumously published Les aveux de la chair (The confessions of the flesh) and the ”activist” writings in the four volume publication, Dits et Écrits.

Depending on the research interests of the participants the group can discuss Foucault’s influence on pedagogy, sociology, political science, discourse analysis, governmentality studies, postcolonialism, deconstruction, feminism and queer theory.

The language of the course will be English.