Abstract
In order to situate Michel Foucault’s pathbreaking thinking in relation to health and social care, we need to understand the background against which he formulated his views. If we return to an earlier discussion on the intellectual climate in post-1945 France, two views emerge in relation to Husserlian phenomenology. First, structuralism, and second, a hermeneutics which did not resort to the transcendental subject, but argued that the source of meaning production should be sought in the social practices and texts which are fundamental to human activity. Foucault’s conceptual and theoretical tools are highly relevant to health and social care in terms of understanding social relationships between professionals and service users such as older people.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Adorno, T., & Horkheimer, M. (1944). The culture industry: Enlightenment as mass deception; dialectic of enlightenment. Continuum.
Biggs, S., & Powell, J. L. (1999). Surveillance and elder abuse: The rationalities and technologies of community care. Journal of Contemporary Health, 4(1), 43–49.
Biggs, S., & Powell, J. (2001). A Foucauldian analysis of care health and social care and the power of health welfare. Journal of Health and Social Care and Health Policy, 12(2), 93–112.
Butler, J. (1990). Gender trouble: Feminism and the subversion of identity. Routledge.
De Beauvoir, S. (1979). Care health and social care. Penguin.
Dean, M. (2007). Governing societies. Open University Press/McGraw-Hill.
Donzelot, J. (1980). The policing of families. In Foucault, the family and politics. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137291288_6
Dreyfus, H., & Rabinow, P. (1982a). Michel Foucault: Beyond structuralism and hermeneutics. University of Chicago Press.
Dreyfus, H. L., & Rabinow, P. (1982b). Michel Foucault: Beyond structuralism and hermeneutics. Harvester.
Dreyfus, H., & Rabinow, P. (1983). Michel Foucault: Beyond structuralism and hermeneutics. University of Chicago Pres.
Elders, F. (Ed.). (1974). Reflexive waters: The basic concerns of mankind. Souvenir Press.
Foucault, M. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge. Tavistock.
Foucault, M. (1973). The birth of the clinic. Routledge.
Foucault, M. (1977a). Discipline and punish. Tavistock.
Foucault, M. (1977b). Discipline and punish. Penguin.
Foucault, M. (1977c). Discipline and punish. Allen Lane.
Foucault, M. (1978a). The history of sexuality (Vol. 1). Penguin.
Foucault, M. (1978b). The history of sexuality: An introduction. Penguin.
Foucault, M. (1978c). Governmentality. In G. Burchell (Ed.) (1991). The Foucault effect: Studies in governmentality. Harvester.
Foucault, M. (1978d). The history of sexuality [Volume 1]: An introduction. Vintage Books.
Foucault, M. (1980a). Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings, 1972–1977. Pantheon.
Foucault, M. (1980b). Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings, 1972–1977 (C. Gordon, Ed.). Pantheon.
Foucault, M. (1982). The subject of power. In H. Dreyfus & P. Rabinow (Eds.), Michel Foucault: Beyond structuralism and hermeneutics. Harvester.
Foucault, M. (1983). The subject of power. In H. Dreyfus & P. Rabinow (Eds.), Michel Foucault: Beyond structuralism and hermeneutics. Brighton.
Foucault, M. (1984a). Space, knowledge, power. In P. Rabinow (Ed.), The Foucault reader. Penguin.
Foucault, M. (1984b). What is enlightenment? In P. Rabinow (Ed.), The Foucault reader. Peregrine.
Foucault, M. (1984c). The Foucault reader (P. Rabinow, Ed.). Penguin.
Foucault, M. (1985). Discourse and truth: The problematization of parrhesia. In J. Pearson (Ed.), Foucault. Northwestern University Press.
Foucault, M. (1988). Technologies of the self. In L. H. Martin et al. (Eds.), Technologies of the self. Tavistock.
Foucault, M. (1989). Foucault live: Collected interviews 1961–1984 (E. Lotringer, Ed.; J. Johnston, Trans.). Semiotext(e).
Foucault, M. (1991a). Remarks on Marx: Conversations with Duccio Trombadori (R. J. Goldstein & J. Cascaito, Trans.). Semiotext(e).
Foucault, M. (1991b). The ethic of care for the self as a practice of freedom: An interview with Fornet-Betancourt, R., Becker, H. and Gomez-Müller, A. Translated by Gauthier Snr, J. D. In J. Bernauer & D. Rasmussen (Eds.), The final Foucault. MIT Press.
Foucault, M. (1991c). Governmentality. In G. Burchell (Ed.), The Foucault effect: Studies in governmentality. University of Chicago Press.
Foucault, M. (1991d). Governmentality. In G. Burchell, C. Gordon, & P. Miller (Eds.), The Foucault effect: Studies in governmentality. Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Goffman, E. (1968) Total institutions.
Gutting, G. (2003). The Cambridge companion to Foucault. Cambridge University Press.
Hollingdale, R. (1977). The Nietzsche reader. Penguin.
Honneth, A., & Joas, H. (1988). Social action and human nature. Cambridge University Press.
Katz, S. (2007). The problems of eurocentrism and evolutionism in Marx’s writings on colonialism. Political Studies., 28(4), 672–686.
Kelly, C. (1994). Social identity and intergroup perceptions in minority-majority contexts. Human Relations, 43(2), 583–599.
Layder, D. (2006). Understanding social theory. Sage.
May, T. (1991). Probation: Politics, policy and practice. Open University Press.
May, T. (1994). Transformative power: A study in a human service organisation. The Sociological Review, 42(4), 618–638.
May, T. (1999). From Banana time to just-in-time: Power and resistance at work. Sociology, 33(4), 767–783.
May, T., & Powell, J. (2007). Michel Foucault. In T. Edwards (Ed.), Cultural theory: Classical and contemporary positions. SAGE.
McNay, L. (1993). Foucault and feminism. Polity.
McNay, L. (1994). Foucault. Cambridge.
Miller, T. (1993). The well-tempered self: Citizenship, culture and the postmodern subject. John Hopkins University Press.
Morris, D. (1998). Illness and culture in the postmodern age. University of California Press.
Powell, J. L., & Biggs, S. (2000). Health and social care health and social care: The disciplinary web of power, Surveillance and Normalisation. Journal of Health and Social Care and Identity, 5(1), 3–13.
Rose, N. (1984). Genetic counseling: The development of a new interdisciplinary occupational field. Social Science and Medicine, 18(7), 541–549.
Shumway, D. (1989). Michel Foucault. University of Virginia Press.
Smart, B. (1983). Foucault, Marxism and critique. Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Turner, B., & Dumas, A. (2006). Age and aging: the social world of Foucault and Bourdieu. In J. Powell & A. Wahidin (Eds.), Foucault and aging. Nova Science.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Powell, J. (2023). New Perspectives: Foucault and Applicability to Health and Social Care. In: New Perspectives on Health and Social Care. International Perspectives on Social Policy, Administration, and Practice. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25432-1_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25432-1_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-25431-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-25432-1
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)