Wednesday 19 April 2006
Michel Foucault : Psychiatric Power
The College de France series
6.30 pm / In English / Cinema
From 1971 until his death in 1984, Michel Foucault gave a series of lectures
at the Collège de France. These were seminal events, offering a unique
public forum for one of the great modern minds to outline his views. He used these
lectures to address critiques of his work and to develop the theories for
which he is most famous. The topics discussed ranged widely, incorporating both
his views on social institutions, notably psychiatry and the prison system,
as well as his broader analyses of knowledge, power, truth and discourse. The
lectures were attended by thousands and created benchmarks for contemporary
critical inquiry.
Foucault’s work has been read from many standpoints, casting him as a
nihilist, an idealist, a Marxist, an anti-Marxist, an ambiguity which he himself
seemed to enjoy. Until now the lectures have only been available in French. By
making them available in English, Foucault’s ideas will reach an even wider
audience allowing new generations of readers to develop their own
interpretations.
Psychiatric Power: Lectures at the Collège de France 1973-74 is the first
book in a series of ten to be published in English by Palgrave Macmillan.
Pr. Nikolas Rose (LSE) and French philosopher Guillaume le Blanc will be
discussing Foucault’s teaching at the College de France and his views on
psychiatry. Chaired by Colin Gordon, co-author and editor of The Foucault Effect.
Admission free
Reservation compulsory
At Institut Français
17 Queensberry Place
South Kensington
London SW7 2DT
T. 020 7073 1350
www.institut-francais.org.uk