Purpose and Analytical Concepts

Abstract

This chapter provides an account of the critical purpose of Michel Foucault’s analyses and those of his analytical concepts that I find relevant for a critical analysis of new forms of governing. While some work has been done on trying to explicate the critical potential of Foucault’s genealogical analyses from the point of view of political philosophy (Tully 1989; Connolly 1993; Owen 1995; Osborne 1999), many of these conceptual arguments have never been translated into the analysis of new forms of governing. This chapter will argue that by applying Foucault’s concepts we may be able to provide not some lofty philosophical generalizations, but some very concrete and empirical studies that may provide new understandings and critical insights into the logics and actual operation of new forms of governing.