Did Foucault enable Karl Rove?

So sez the Huffington Post:
In his 1970 book, The Order of Things, the French philosopher Michel Foucault proclaimed that the concept of man “is an invention of recent date” and would soon disappear, “like a face drawn in sand at the edge of the sea.” Foucault and other postmodernists argued that the individual self (or [...]

New Paper: Foucault, Marxism and the Cuban Revolution: Historical and Contemporary Reflections

New paper by Sam Binkley:
Foucault, Marxism and the Cuban Revolution: Historical and Contemporary Reflections

This article relates central themes of Marxist and Foucauldian thought to the intellectual and political legacy of the Cuban Revolution. Against the backdrop of a reading of Foucault’s relationship to the revolutionary left, it is argued that Marxist theoretical discourse on guerrilla [...]

Žižek on Critchley

Funnily enough and coming in quite timely, Slavoj Žižek has a piece in the 15 November issue of London Review of Books which discusses resistance and why Critchley’s position is problematic.
He says:
The response of some critics on the postmodern Left to this predicament is to call for a new politics of resistance. Those who still [...]

Le governement de soi et des autres tome 1

Le governement de soi et des autres tome 1.
As previously noted this book will be out in French early next year (January 17, 2008). These constitute the 1983 Collège de France lectures.

Critchley and Badiou

Critchley, in his opening remarks at U Penn last week, made a number of interesting comments regarding the state of politics today. I must admit to not being previously familiar with his work, but there were a few things definitely worth picking up on.
First, Critchley remarked that there is a deep strain of melancholy running [...]

Alain Badiou lectures in the USA

Like Foucault, he cut his teeth with Althusser as a teacher, and both defended Althusser during Louis’ down years when the pencilneck midgets were taking their shots. As I’m fond of saying, if you defend your mentor only out of loyalty, s/he’s not your mentor. Badiou writes constantly of the ‘return of philosophy’ while Foucault [...]

Well this combines two of my interests

It should be pretty obvious to any informed viewer that the Wire [on HBO] is the most Foucauldian show on television. Of course, there are some pretty cheesy reality shows which might enact some of the more paranoid visions inspired by Foucault’s work, but as a drama which undertakes an actual investigation of the [...]

Where did Foucault say…

Where did Foucault say:
“…the existence of madness as experienced by the sane or reasonable subject”
As cited by Colin Gordon. It was somewhere in Histoire de la Folie. Enquiring minds want to know.

Sexual orientation and nature/culture

Interesting post here:
The below poster of a baby, with the word “homosexual” written on its armband, is part of a proposed campaign by the left-wing administration of Tuscany (a regional government within Italy) to combat homophobia. It represents an attempt to teach people that, because homosexuality is not a choice, gays and lesbians should not [...]

CFP: Foucault Circle 2008

The Foucault Circle’s call for papers for next year’s meeting in Richmond, Indiana: deadline coming up! (November 16).