Kaori writes
>I remember finally understanding the implication of this article, and
>thinking, 'but, I'm Japanese! I can't carry the torch of western
>enlightenment! I can't be a Foucaultian! Why the hxxx couldn't Foucault
>claim to be universal?!'
>
>.but of course, he didn't, and so I'm stuck trying to negotiate trying to be
>'Foucaultian' and retain all the other bits and bobs that make me who I am..
>
This is an interesting point but in my view the solution is easy.
Foucault often commented that his work was a toolbox and that people should
take from his work what they found useful and expand those ideas into various
areas they personally found of interest or were able to take action in. He also
suggests that in general we plunder the 'cultural inventions of mankind' for
'devices, techniques, ideas, procedures, and so on' that can be helpful as tools
for analysing and attempting to change the current situation. ('On the genealogy
of ethics" , in Essential works 1, p. 261).
I've noticed that in all the articles and interviews that were originally published
in Japan, Foucault was very careful to say that his work was done within a French
context. Paradoxically, in my view, it is Foucault's very insistance on the specific
historical and geographical location of his work that makes it so usable by
others.
Universal ideas often tend to exert terrorist effects - as in actuality they really
only apply to specific situations once you analyse their origins. One often
wonders when presented with universal ideas, why they don't quite fit a whole
range of things they are meant to apply to and one can become frustrated, not
to mention feel excluded, by the lack of fit after a while.
On the other hand quite specific ideas which apply to quite specific situations
can be easily adapted and changed as necessary by using a process of analogy
to fit other situations. This is one of the reasons, in my view, why Foucault's
work is so productive in so many geographical and disciplinary arenas.
People read his work and say - well, these articles are about the State, and
liberal philosophies of government and self government in nineteenth century
France - but these ideas are really interesting - they give me a new and exciting
way of thinking about public and private transport in Australia.
Or, I am shocked by the descriptions of the treatment of mad people and
prisoners in European history - this looks somewhat similar to other situations I
know about - maybe I can apply some of these insights in modified form to
these other situations.
Clare
****************************************
Clare O'Farrell
email: c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx
website: http://www.michel-foucault.com
****************************************
>I remember finally understanding the implication of this article, and
>thinking, 'but, I'm Japanese! I can't carry the torch of western
>enlightenment! I can't be a Foucaultian! Why the hxxx couldn't Foucault
>claim to be universal?!'
>
>.but of course, he didn't, and so I'm stuck trying to negotiate trying to be
>'Foucaultian' and retain all the other bits and bobs that make me who I am..
>
This is an interesting point but in my view the solution is easy.
Foucault often commented that his work was a toolbox and that people should
take from his work what they found useful and expand those ideas into various
areas they personally found of interest or were able to take action in. He also
suggests that in general we plunder the 'cultural inventions of mankind' for
'devices, techniques, ideas, procedures, and so on' that can be helpful as tools
for analysing and attempting to change the current situation. ('On the genealogy
of ethics" , in Essential works 1, p. 261).
I've noticed that in all the articles and interviews that were originally published
in Japan, Foucault was very careful to say that his work was done within a French
context. Paradoxically, in my view, it is Foucault's very insistance on the specific
historical and geographical location of his work that makes it so usable by
others.
Universal ideas often tend to exert terrorist effects - as in actuality they really
only apply to specific situations once you analyse their origins. One often
wonders when presented with universal ideas, why they don't quite fit a whole
range of things they are meant to apply to and one can become frustrated, not
to mention feel excluded, by the lack of fit after a while.
On the other hand quite specific ideas which apply to quite specific situations
can be easily adapted and changed as necessary by using a process of analogy
to fit other situations. This is one of the reasons, in my view, why Foucault's
work is so productive in so many geographical and disciplinary arenas.
People read his work and say - well, these articles are about the State, and
liberal philosophies of government and self government in nineteenth century
France - but these ideas are really interesting - they give me a new and exciting
way of thinking about public and private transport in Australia.
Or, I am shocked by the descriptions of the treatment of mad people and
prisoners in European history - this looks somewhat similar to other situations I
know about - maybe I can apply some of these insights in modified form to
these other situations.
Clare
****************************************
Clare O'Farrell
email: c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx
website: http://www.michel-foucault.com
****************************************