Francois
Those are good questions and I am a little embarrased in that I don't have
the text of that lecture to hand at present so my reply on that point is from
memory. Foucault started the 1980 course on the question of regimes of truth and
the relation between sovereignty and truth, and went on to the government of
the manifestation of truth in the early Church, as the published course
summary records. What he was saying was that there is more to regimes of truth than
power-knowledge analyses alone can bring out.
I don't think he was saying that power-knowledge analyses are no good. As is
well known he sometimes introduced his new ideas in ways that we may feel
overstated the limitations of the earlier work. In 1978 and 1979 he made a
certain point of saying he was doing the same kind of analysis as before, but now
addressing the macro political topics that critics had said he couldn't deal
with, i.e. the state and government. But I think it turned out that he wasn't
just applying the method in a different area but also enriching the method, so
that he increasingly also felt the governmentality frame of analysis was more
productive for treating issues about subjects and truth, 'counter-conducts',
and the relation to self, and that was what he was starting so say in that
lecture, and said in interviews afterwards.
regards
Colin
In a message dated 15/03/04 21:59:22 GMT Standard Time,
francois.gagnon.1@xxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
> Subj: (More questions on) power-knowledge
> Date: 15/03/04 21:59:22 GMT Standard Time
> From: francois.gagnon.1@xxxxxxxxxxxx
> Reply-to: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> To: foucault@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Sent from the Internet
>
>
>
> Mr.Gordon,
>
> Thanks for your answer... but it leaves me with doubts that I'll try to sum
> up
> very fast in a simple question. In your answer to me (see quote below), you
> report that Foucault has said that governmentality is a superior grid of
> analysis than that of power-knowledge (I leave aside his comments on the
> superiority of the power-knowledge grid over that of ideology for I agree
> and
> understand). The fact that I always thought of governmentality as a specific
> form of power-knowledge relations makes me want to ask that question: did he
> say why he thought it was superior or do you have leads towards a possible
> answer or - even better - an answer?
>
> Of course, my question is adressed to all the list members...
>
> Thanks,
> François
>
> ----
> "J'espere que ceci est plus clair! F a dit a peu pres que la
> gouvernementalite
> etait aussi nettement superieure comme grille d'analyse a celle en termes de
> pouvoir-savoir, qu'avait ete celle-ci comme avancee sur la theorie
> d'ideologie."
>
>
>
Colin Gordon
Director, NHSIA Disease Management Systems Programme
Health Informatics Manager, Royal Brompton Hospital
Chair, British Medical informatics Society
http://www.bmis.org
07881 625146
colinngordon@xxxxxxx
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