Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault and Obama

Wouldn't Foucault say that Obama was coming in to change the world but
that powerful oppressive discourses would prevent him from doing so?

On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 7:44 AM, Kevin Turner <kevin.turner@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> I gave Tony Blair a three when he was first elected - it soon dropped into minus figures...
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
>> Sent: Thu, 4 Dec 2008 09:22:46 -0600
>> To: foucault-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> Subject: Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault and Obama
>>
>> three as in what?
>> three out of five or out of 10?
>> I think I missed the joke lol
>> pardon my ignorance.
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 7:14 AM, Timothy O'Leary <autrement@xxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Chetan,
>>>
>>> One place to start would be Foucault's discussion of the election of
>>> Francois Mitterand in 1981, the first left(ist) President of France in
>>> many
>>> decades.
>>>
>>> See: "So is it important to think?", EW3, p.454ff
>>>
>>> On the other hand, one could take the route that Martin Hardie, with his
>>> tongue firmly in cheek, has suggested on a different topic, and say that
>>> Foucault would have given Obama... a three.
>>>
>>> Timothy
>>>
>>>
>>> On Thu, Dec 4, 2008 at 4:15 PM, Chetan Vemuri <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
>>> >wrote:
>>>
>>>> So I know this is completely random, but since we know that Foucault
>>>> was
>>>> intending to move to California (at least I think he was) before his
>>> death
>>>> came into the picture, and considering (without AIDS of course, purely
>>>> theoretical) he lived through 2008, what do you think he would have had
>>> to
>>>> say about the presidential election and Obama's rise to power?
>>>> Do you think he would have been positive, negative or ambivalent?
>>>>
>>>> I ask because I read an interesting yet rare piece by Judith Butler on
>>>> Obama's victory taking a guarded approach yet appreciating its apparent
>>>> significance. I'm not trying to equivocate both thinkers, but I have an
>>>> inkling Foucault would have had a similar if not identical opinion, had
>>> he
>>>> lived to the present.
>>>> Here's Butler's article:
>>>>
>>>>
>>> http://angrywhitekid.blogs.com/weblog/2008/11/uncritical-exuberance-judith-butlers-take-on-obama.html
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Chetan Vemuri
>>>> West Des Moines, IA
>>>> aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
>>>> (515)-418-2771
>>>> "You say you want a Revolution! Well you know, we all want to change
>>>> the
>>>> world"
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Chetan Vemuri
>> West Des Moines, IA
>> aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
>> (515)-418-2771
>> "You say you want a Revolution! Well you know, we all want to change the
>> world"
>> _______________________________________________
>> Foucault-L mailing list
>
> ____________________________________________________________
> FREE 3D EARTH SCREENSAVER - Watch the Earth right on your desktop!
> Check it out at http://www.inbox.com/earth
>
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
>

Folow-ups
  • Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault and Obama
    • From: R.Thomas-Pellicer
  • Replies
    Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault and Obama, Timothy O'Leary
    [Foucault-L] Foucault and Obama, Chetan Vemuri
    Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault and Obama, Chetan Vemuri
    Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault and Obama, Kevin Turner
    Partial thread listing: