Re: [Foucault-L] genealogy of power

Dear Kevin,

Here are some places where Foucault comes close to saying "genealogy of
power." The first e.g., actually, is not that close at all, since it
concerns not a genealogy of power but of knowledge (from which a certain
kind of power derives).

But each of the succeeding examples get progressively closer and closer to
"genealogy of power," though none are precisely what you are looking for.
(And I suspect you are entirely right that the popularity of the phrase
"genealogy of power" derives from its repetition in the commentarial
literature rather than from Foucault himself. Also, strictly speaking, your
hunch could still be correct *even if* it should turn out that Foucault
himself used the phrase "genealogy of power" once or twice in passing; that
is to say, the question of whether or not Foucault ever used the phrase
himself is logically independent of the question of its popularity deriving
from the commentarial literature.)

Here are some examples of Foucault's usage:

Genealogy of the... scientifico-legal complex from which the power to punish
derives:
"This book is intended as a correlative history of the modern soul and of a
new power to judge; a genealogy of the present scientifico-legal complex
from which the power to punish derives its bases, justifications and rules,
from which it extends its effects and by which it masks its exorbitant
singularity." (D&P p. 23)

Genealogy as the history of the micro-physics of punitive power:
"The history of this 'micro-physics' of the punitive power would then be a
genealogy or an element in a genealogy of the modern 'soul'." (D&P p. 29)

Genealogy of struggle:
"...something one might call a genealogy, or rather a multiplicity of
genealogical researches, a painstaking rediscovery of struggles together
with the rude memory of their conflicts." ("Two Lectures" in
Power/Knowledge, p. 83)

Genealogy of relations of force, strategic developments, and tactics:
"a refusal of analyses couched in terms of the symbolic field or the domain
of signifying structures, and a recourse to analyses in terms of the
genealogy of relations of force, strategic developments, and tactics."
("Truth and Power" n Power/Knowledge, p. 114)

Genealogy of technologies of power:
"...instead of considering it in terms of an archeology of knowledge, I
would like to consider it from the perspective of a genealogy of
technologies of power." (Security, Territory, Population, p. 36)

All best wishes,
Nate

On Fri, Oct 24, 2008 at 6:06 AM, M. Karskens <mkarskens@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

> The most close to <genealogy of power> comes the
> January 7 1976 lecture: "l'enjeu de toutes cettes
> généalogies, ... est celui ci: qu'est-ce que ce
> pouvoir " (French edition p.13 below; I think
> this will be p.12 of the Englis translation):
> the second place is mentioned by you, it is the
> interview with Trombadori of June 1976: "ed il
> ricorso ad analisi che si farebbero in termini di
> genealogie, di rapporti di forza, di sviluppi
> strategici, di tattitiche" see, Microfisica del
> Potere p.8 = Dits et Ecrits III page 145
>
> yours
> machiel karskens
>
>
> At 09:34 24-10-2008, Kevin Turner wrote:
> >Hi Clare, and thanks for the references. Having
> >scanned through them very quickly, I was
> >reasonably surprised to come across no instances
> >of the phrase "genealogy of power." The closest
> >Foucault come to saying this is in 'Truth and
> >Power' where he refers to ‘the genealogy of
> >relations of force’ (P/K: 114; EW3: 116). What
> >is interesting is that I have found many more
> >instances in which Foucault talks about doing a
> >"genealogy of knowledge (connaissance)," which
> >would be the "indispensable other side" to the
> >"archaeology of knowledge (savoir): see, for
> >example, "Psychiatric Power:" 238ff, 346;
> >"Society Must Be Defended:" 8-12; and in "Penal
> >Theories and Institutions," which has yet to be
> >translated into English, Foucault makes a
> >distinction between what he calls "an
> >archaeology of knowledge" and a "dynastics of
> >knowledge," cf. PP: 256n13; see also, EW1:
> >17ff). What's even more interesting is that I
> >think I have only come across one instance in
> >which a "genealogy of connaissance" is discussed
> >in the secondary literature. I cannot remember
> >the exact reference, but I think it was
> >something written by Stuart Elden. If anyone
> >knows of other instances of this, could I please
> >have references. Regards, Kevin. > -----Original
> >Message----- > From: c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx >
> >Sent: Fri, 24 Oct 2008 08:43:37 +1000 > To:
> >foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx > Subject: Re:
> >[Foucault-L] genealogy of power > > Kevin > > I
> >don't have my books with me but try The Order of
> >Discourse, 'Truth > and power' and 'Two
> >lectures'. If Foucault does use the term these >
> >are the most likely places. > > You raise a
> >useful point about secondary commentary
> >inventing terms > which then get attributed to
> >the primary source and the necessity to >
> >carefully check. I won't even begin to mention
> >the problems of > translation... > > At 10:48 AM
> >-0800 23/10/08, Kevin Turner wrote: > >I cannot
> >find this phrase in the text you mention - do
> >you have a > >reference to the page on which
> >Foucault uses "genealogy of power"? >> > >The
> >reason I am asking the question is that I don't
> >remember ever > >reading this phrase in any of
> >Foucault's texts, and so I'm
> >wondering > >whether is actually a product of
> >secondary commentary which,
> >through > >reiteration, has somehow become
> >attributed to Foucault himself. > > -- >
> >regards > Clare >
> >************************************************
> > > Clare O'Farrell > email:
> >c.ofarrell@xxxxxxxxxx > website:
> >http://www.michel-foucault.com >
> >************************************************
> > >
> >_______________________________________________ >
> > Foucault-L mailing list
> >_______________________________________________ Foucault-L mailing list
>
>
>
>
> Prof. Machiel Karskens
> social and political philosophy
> Faculty of Philosophy
> Radboud University Nijmegen - The Netherlands
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
>



--
Nathaniel Roberts
Adjunct Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
Columbia University
-and-
Part Time Faculty Member
Department of Anthropology
The New School for Social Research
Folow-ups
  • Re: [Foucault-L] genealogy of power
    • From: Kevin Turner
  • Replies
    Re: [Foucault-L] genealogy of power, Kevin Turner
    Re: [Foucault-L] genealogy of power, M. Karskens
    Partial thread listing: