Re: Thinking about Foucault's Methods

Hi Cameron,
this is an interesting one. I had a couple of thoughts:
you could problematise the notion of 'illicit' drugs compared say to
those that are 'not illicit'/illegal. How and why did some drugs come to
be illicit/not illicit at a particular point in time?
the medicalisation of 'substance abuse'how did a distinction come to
be made between 'use' and 'abuse'? Also drawing on some of F's earlier
work on bio-power and the differentiation of sick and healthy, or normal
and not-normal people
I think the starting point for any study is a problematisation of
language used, eg. subtance abuse, illicit drugs, and as you mentioned,
the 'problem' of illicit drug use.
In terms of reference I am in the education field and there are a stack
of people using Foucualt, including Erica McWilliam, Robin Usher,
Richard Edwards, Nicky Solomon, Patti Lather, Elizabeth Adams St Pierre,
Carmen Luke, Jennifer Gore to name a few. Several of these are feminist
Foucauldians-my particular interest!
From recollection none of these are very specific on methodology. I
found a phD thesis by a woman at QUT, Caroline Hatcher the most helpful
I think. Her 1998 thesis is entitled "Making the Enterprising Manager in
Australia: A genealogy".
She has also published some stuff with Erica McWilliam and Daphne
Meadmore which talks about genealogy-see for example Meadmore, Hatcher,
& McWilliam (2000) Getting tense about genealogy, in Qualitative Studies
in Education 13 (1)
Regards
Anita

Cameron Duff wrote:

> Hello All,
>
>I must say it's been very pleasing to watch the recent increase in the
>volume of postings on this list; for a time there I was beginning to worry
>if indeed we had all but 'forgotten Foucault'...but no, the list has once
>again sprung into vibrancy! Much relief...I would like to post a query on
>this list about the existing secondary literature concerning the analysis of
>Foucault's methods. I recall writing a section in my thesis on the various
>pieces of Foucault's own writings that address notions of method and
>epistemology (Nietzsche, Genealogy, History; Two Lectures, What is
>Enlightenment? the Subject and Power, Questions of Method etc); though
>Foucault rarely spoke of methodologies in the manner of a more
>traditional/conventional research scholar. However, it is precisely this
>notion of the anti-science, of Foucault's elliptical critique of a more
>conventional epistemology that is of most interest to me now in my more
>recent work on the 'problem' of illicit drug misuse.
>
>Recently I have been thinking about how one might come to apply some of
>Foucault's insights to the issue of substance misuse. Specifically, I have
>begun thinking about a more foucauldian inspired research agenda within the
>alcohol and other drugs field. In other words, how might a 'foucauldian'
>approach the problem of illicit drugs? What would be the principal objects
>of interest? How would this research proceed, according to which methods? I
>would certainly be interested to know what others on the list thought of
>these issues...
>
>However, I also thought it would be useful to explore the secondary
>literature to examine how various of Foucault's methods have been 'applied'
>in other fields (ie education, social work, criminology, health sciences
>etc). Can anyone recommend any works of interest? I am particularly
>interested in pieces of writing that address the issue of Foucault's methods
>and their application. I recently came across Kendall and Wickham's 'Using
>Foucault's Methods' (Sage 1999), though have found it somewhat
>unsatisfactory. Any other suggestions?
>
>With thanks,
>
>Dr Cameron Duff
>Director of Research,
>Centre for Youth Drug Studies
>
>PO Box 818, North Melbourne. 3051
>TEL: 03 9278 8118
>FAX: 03 9328 3008
>cameron@xxxxxxxxxx
>www.adf.org.au
>
>
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