Abstract
In order to elucidate some of the ways in which critique and subjectivity become inextricably linked in Foucault’s oeuvre, the paper proceeds first by briefly discussing the concept of critique as limit-attitude as it appears in some of Foucault’s methodological writings. Subsequently, the main tenets of Judith Butler’s commentary on the essay ‘What is Critique?’ will be summarized, concentrating on the image of the virtuous, self-making subject that the author’s interpretation brings out of Foucault’s original text. The second part of the paper aims to develop an alternative reading of Foucault’s notion of critique by looking at the ways in which the notion of space operates as an underlying perspective in his archaeological analysis. Ultimately, it will be shown how the spatial implications of Foucault’s early works and a more passive form of subjectivity as unfolding from his discussion of the ‘author function’ and his own methodological reflections coalesce into a form of practical critique, which, as wished by the author, may take ‘the form of a possible transgression’ (Foucault 1984a, p. 45).
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the Critical and Cultural Politics Group at the Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University, for their engagement and insightful comments on an earlier draft, as well as Nathan Gibbs and Karoline Gritzner for helpful discussions. I am particularly grateful to Gergely Romsics, Thanos Zartaloudis and the editors of this special issue for their detailed comments and friendly support throughout the preparation of this paper.
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Strausz, E. Foucault’s Critique: A Topology of Thought. Law Critique 22, 119–133 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10978-011-9082-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10978-011-9082-5