I remember reading once of a doctoral candidate--I think from Toronto--who
completed a study of "Foucault's humanism" and was rather upset when,
having the chance to meet the man, Foucault dismissed her effort, telling
her (paraphrasing) 'you should have done a genealogy' ...
______________________________________________
*** I propose a game!
How many genealogical studies of institutions can we name?
I made a tentative list of possible 'institutions' (for the moment, using a
fairly narrow understanding of the word):
the asylum, the prison, the courthouse, the clinic, the factory, the
barracks, the sanatorium, the school, the mortuary, the intersection, the
cemetery, the funfair, the stadium, the bedroom, the mall, the hotel room,
the supermarket, the couch, the museum, the post office, the library, the
bank, the university, the airport, the chapel, the park, the household, the
brothel, the office, the washroom, the bathhouse, the gymnasium, the public
house, the theatre, the car, the disco, the highway, the crosswalk, the
State.
(the last isn't really appropriate, but I can never resist to remind myself
of its existence)
*** Selection criteria: I counted only--for the moment--"real spaces"
(unlike 'marriage', or 'the family', for example, which are often referred
to as 'institutions'). I tried to ensure each was differentiated, to a
degree, from the others (for example, I didn't list the "rest home", as
this is something of an amalgam of the clinic and the cemetery, which I'd
already listed). I also suggest these must be locations of mass activity,
that is to say, they traverse, penetrate, the mundane and normal existence
of people; not simply occasional activities, but spaces where one might
guess that somebody actually is--indeed many people are--at any given time,
somewhere on the planet.
Obviously there is some difficulty here--Foucault never attempted the
genealogy of the actual institution (as say, Goffman did of the asylum),
but was more interested in the genealogy of the particular rationality at
stake. I'm assuming I'm understood on this ... some slippage between the
two is OK.
THE GAME:
__________________________________
How many of these institutions have been studied genealogically, and by who?
*** Selection criteria: any--as long as there is a systematic (or near
systematic) attempt to study them. Journal articles, in other words, would
be admissable. Any language.
please send suggestions to add to the following (suggestive) list:
p.s., I guess it's not fair if I win the game, so the following are only
the most obvious suggestions ..
p.p.s., great studies which are not really 'genealogical' but erudite, are
also admissable.
p.p.p.s., if in doubt, leave a ?? after.
___the asylum
M. Foucault, (1961) _Folie et deraison_
___ the prison
M. Foucault, (c1977) _Discipline and Punish_
___ the courthouse
___ the clinic
M. Foucault, (c1973) _The Birth of the Clinic_
___ the factory
___ the barracks
G. Oestreich, (1982) _Neostoicism and the early modern state_??
___ the sanatorium
___ the school
Jones, K. & K. Williamson, (1979) 'The birth of the schoolroom', _Ideology
and Consciousness_ 6, pp. 58-110
___ the mortuary
___ the intersection
___ the cemetery
___ the funfair
___ the stadium
___ the bedroom
___ the mall
___ the hotel room
___ the supermarket
___ the couch
___ the museum
___ the post office
___ the library
___ the bank
___ the university
___ the airport
___ the chapel
___ the park
___ the household
___ the brothel
___ the office
___ the washroom
___ the bathhouse
___ the gymnasium
___ the public house
___ the theatre
___ the car
___ the disco
___ the highway
L. Mumford, (1963) _The Highway and the City_??
___ the crosswalk
POINT OF GAME:
__________________________________
jouissance? you decide ...
THE CARROT:
__________________________________
The person judged (by me) to have contributed the best list of suggestions
will be offered the handsome prize of several free drinks; to be claimed
henceforth if they ever come to New York City when I happen to be in town.
happy holidays!
______________________________________________
Ian R. Douglas | Watson Institute of International Studies
Brown University, Box 1831, Providence, RI 02912 USA
tel: 401 863-2420 fax: 401 863-2192
"Only he who takes what he writes directly out of his
own head is worth reading." - Schopenhauer
http://www.powerfoundation.org
completed a study of "Foucault's humanism" and was rather upset when,
having the chance to meet the man, Foucault dismissed her effort, telling
her (paraphrasing) 'you should have done a genealogy' ...
______________________________________________
*** I propose a game!
How many genealogical studies of institutions can we name?
I made a tentative list of possible 'institutions' (for the moment, using a
fairly narrow understanding of the word):
the asylum, the prison, the courthouse, the clinic, the factory, the
barracks, the sanatorium, the school, the mortuary, the intersection, the
cemetery, the funfair, the stadium, the bedroom, the mall, the hotel room,
the supermarket, the couch, the museum, the post office, the library, the
bank, the university, the airport, the chapel, the park, the household, the
brothel, the office, the washroom, the bathhouse, the gymnasium, the public
house, the theatre, the car, the disco, the highway, the crosswalk, the
State.
(the last isn't really appropriate, but I can never resist to remind myself
of its existence)
*** Selection criteria: I counted only--for the moment--"real spaces"
(unlike 'marriage', or 'the family', for example, which are often referred
to as 'institutions'). I tried to ensure each was differentiated, to a
degree, from the others (for example, I didn't list the "rest home", as
this is something of an amalgam of the clinic and the cemetery, which I'd
already listed). I also suggest these must be locations of mass activity,
that is to say, they traverse, penetrate, the mundane and normal existence
of people; not simply occasional activities, but spaces where one might
guess that somebody actually is--indeed many people are--at any given time,
somewhere on the planet.
Obviously there is some difficulty here--Foucault never attempted the
genealogy of the actual institution (as say, Goffman did of the asylum),
but was more interested in the genealogy of the particular rationality at
stake. I'm assuming I'm understood on this ... some slippage between the
two is OK.
THE GAME:
__________________________________
How many of these institutions have been studied genealogically, and by who?
*** Selection criteria: any--as long as there is a systematic (or near
systematic) attempt to study them. Journal articles, in other words, would
be admissable. Any language.
please send suggestions to add to the following (suggestive) list:
p.s., I guess it's not fair if I win the game, so the following are only
the most obvious suggestions ..
p.p.s., great studies which are not really 'genealogical' but erudite, are
also admissable.
p.p.p.s., if in doubt, leave a ?? after.
___the asylum
M. Foucault, (1961) _Folie et deraison_
___ the prison
M. Foucault, (c1977) _Discipline and Punish_
___ the courthouse
___ the clinic
M. Foucault, (c1973) _The Birth of the Clinic_
___ the factory
___ the barracks
G. Oestreich, (1982) _Neostoicism and the early modern state_??
___ the sanatorium
___ the school
Jones, K. & K. Williamson, (1979) 'The birth of the schoolroom', _Ideology
and Consciousness_ 6, pp. 58-110
___ the mortuary
___ the intersection
___ the cemetery
___ the funfair
___ the stadium
___ the bedroom
___ the mall
___ the hotel room
___ the supermarket
___ the couch
___ the museum
___ the post office
___ the library
___ the bank
___ the university
___ the airport
___ the chapel
___ the park
___ the household
___ the brothel
___ the office
___ the washroom
___ the bathhouse
___ the gymnasium
___ the public house
___ the theatre
___ the car
___ the disco
___ the highway
L. Mumford, (1963) _The Highway and the City_??
___ the crosswalk
POINT OF GAME:
__________________________________
jouissance? you decide ...
THE CARROT:
__________________________________
The person judged (by me) to have contributed the best list of suggestions
will be offered the handsome prize of several free drinks; to be claimed
henceforth if they ever come to New York City when I happen to be in town.
happy holidays!
______________________________________________
Ian R. Douglas | Watson Institute of International Studies
Brown University, Box 1831, Providence, RI 02912 USA
tel: 401 863-2420 fax: 401 863-2192
"Only he who takes what he writes directly out of his
own head is worth reading." - Schopenhauer
http://www.powerfoundation.org