Warren Montag has been working on a book on Althusser and his contemporaries for some years, I'm not sure when it is coming out though. The paper published in borderlands a few years ago (on Derrida/Foucault debate of the 1960s) was part of the process of writing it.
The relationship between Marxism and Foucault needs to be seen in relation to the crisis of Marxism - which in France was largely a crisis of Maoism (as the opposition to Eurocommunism) - that erupted in 1976. Much of Foucault's work in the early 1970s was close to the Maoists, and then after Discipline and Punish you see a clear shift. Montag made this point in his 1995 article on Althusser and Foucault and also in his paper on 'Society Must Be Defended', which appears in the special issue of Pli on Foucault (Jason Read has a paper on Foucault and Marx in the same issue). http://www.warwick.ac.uk/philosophy/pli_journal/?p=vol13
On 06/02/2012, at 7:26 AM, Andrew Culp wrote:
> Barry Smarts book on Foucault and Marx was the first major English
> contribution to the topic. I would highly suggest checking there for
> couching what now might be an anachronistic debate. Alternately, there has
> been much written on the historical context of the de-stalinization of the
> French communist party, of which foucaults teacher Althusser played an
> incredibly strong role, leading his students to respond in numerous ways
> (balibar, ranciere, Foucault, and others like macherey and Pecheux to name
> a few). If you would like the biographical context, eribon's is second to
> none.
>
> Ac
>
> On Sunday, February 5, 2012, David McInerney <vagabond@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> I second the recommendation of Jason's book.
>>
>> See also the work of Mark Kelly.
>>
>> The question of the relations between authorial intent and the effects of
> a work come into play here. See Warren Montag's various writings on
> Foucault.
>>
>> On 06/02/2012, at 6:42 AM, joshua j. kurz wrote:
>>
>>> Jason Read. 2003. The Micro-politics of Capital: Marx and the Prehistory
> of
>>> the Present.
>>>
>>>
> http://www.amazon.com/Micro-Politics-Capital-Marx-Prehistory-Present/dp/079145844X
>>>
>>>
>>> joshua j. kurz
>>> PhD Candidate, Comparative Studies
>>> The Ohio State University
>>>
>>> 451 Hagerty Hall
>>> 1775 College Rd.
>>> Columbus, OH 43210
>>>
>>>
>>> no trees were harmed in the sending of this email, but trillions of
>>> electrons were severely inconvenienced...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, Feb 5, 2012 at 2:47 PM, Chathan Vemuri <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I've asked some people I know with expertise on the matter but thought
>>>> I'd get a better range of responses here. Me and some Marxist friends
>>>> were discussing the Power and Strategies interview where Foucault
>>>> talks about the Gulag. My friends felt he was creating a straw man by
>>>> suggesting Marxism and Leninism be examined in light of the reality of
>>>> the Gulag. They went to further to castigate Foucault for
>>>> inadvertently being in theoretical alliance with liberal thought that
>>>> only further ignored the necessary critique of capitalism. While I
>>>> think they are right about Power and Strategies, I'm not sure if the
>>>> other argument follows. Indeed it seems to be a common theme in
>>>> Marx-Foucault comparisons. Foucauldians, on the other hand, feel no
>>>> guilt in writing off Marxists as intellectual dinosaurs who have at
>>>> best contributed to failed political killing machines (Stalin, Mao,
>>>> Che). Does anyone on here know of some good arguments or even books
>>>> that go beyond these useless exchanges? I personally feel there's a
>>>> certain kinship between the two thinkers in terms of subjectiviation,
>>>> power relations, concern with historicization. And how would one
>>>> respond to such pointless jabs to begin with. I wasn't convinced of
>>>> Foucault's neat link between Marx and Soviet repression but I hardly
>>>> think that his critique is akin to a liberal philosophy of the state.
>>>> --
>>>> Chathan Vemuri
>>>>
>>>> 900 58th Street
>>>> West Des Moines, IA 50266
>>>> chathan-vemuri@xxxxxxxxx
>>>> (319)-512-9318
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list
The relationship between Marxism and Foucault needs to be seen in relation to the crisis of Marxism - which in France was largely a crisis of Maoism (as the opposition to Eurocommunism) - that erupted in 1976. Much of Foucault's work in the early 1970s was close to the Maoists, and then after Discipline and Punish you see a clear shift. Montag made this point in his 1995 article on Althusser and Foucault and also in his paper on 'Society Must Be Defended', which appears in the special issue of Pli on Foucault (Jason Read has a paper on Foucault and Marx in the same issue). http://www.warwick.ac.uk/philosophy/pli_journal/?p=vol13
On 06/02/2012, at 7:26 AM, Andrew Culp wrote:
> Barry Smarts book on Foucault and Marx was the first major English
> contribution to the topic. I would highly suggest checking there for
> couching what now might be an anachronistic debate. Alternately, there has
> been much written on the historical context of the de-stalinization of the
> French communist party, of which foucaults teacher Althusser played an
> incredibly strong role, leading his students to respond in numerous ways
> (balibar, ranciere, Foucault, and others like macherey and Pecheux to name
> a few). If you would like the biographical context, eribon's is second to
> none.
>
> Ac
>
> On Sunday, February 5, 2012, David McInerney <vagabond@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> I second the recommendation of Jason's book.
>>
>> See also the work of Mark Kelly.
>>
>> The question of the relations between authorial intent and the effects of
> a work come into play here. See Warren Montag's various writings on
> Foucault.
>>
>> On 06/02/2012, at 6:42 AM, joshua j. kurz wrote:
>>
>>> Jason Read. 2003. The Micro-politics of Capital: Marx and the Prehistory
> of
>>> the Present.
>>>
>>>
> http://www.amazon.com/Micro-Politics-Capital-Marx-Prehistory-Present/dp/079145844X
>>>
>>>
>>> joshua j. kurz
>>> PhD Candidate, Comparative Studies
>>> The Ohio State University
>>>
>>> 451 Hagerty Hall
>>> 1775 College Rd.
>>> Columbus, OH 43210
>>>
>>>
>>> no trees were harmed in the sending of this email, but trillions of
>>> electrons were severely inconvenienced...
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Sun, Feb 5, 2012 at 2:47 PM, Chathan Vemuri <aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> I've asked some people I know with expertise on the matter but thought
>>>> I'd get a better range of responses here. Me and some Marxist friends
>>>> were discussing the Power and Strategies interview where Foucault
>>>> talks about the Gulag. My friends felt he was creating a straw man by
>>>> suggesting Marxism and Leninism be examined in light of the reality of
>>>> the Gulag. They went to further to castigate Foucault for
>>>> inadvertently being in theoretical alliance with liberal thought that
>>>> only further ignored the necessary critique of capitalism. While I
>>>> think they are right about Power and Strategies, I'm not sure if the
>>>> other argument follows. Indeed it seems to be a common theme in
>>>> Marx-Foucault comparisons. Foucauldians, on the other hand, feel no
>>>> guilt in writing off Marxists as intellectual dinosaurs who have at
>>>> best contributed to failed political killing machines (Stalin, Mao,
>>>> Che). Does anyone on here know of some good arguments or even books
>>>> that go beyond these useless exchanges? I personally feel there's a
>>>> certain kinship between the two thinkers in terms of subjectiviation,
>>>> power relations, concern with historicization. And how would one
>>>> respond to such pointless jabs to begin with. I wasn't convinced of
>>>> Foucault's neat link between Marx and Soviet repression but I hardly
>>>> think that his critique is akin to a liberal philosophy of the state.
>>>> --
>>>> Chathan Vemuri
>>>>
>>>> 900 58th Street
>>>> West Des Moines, IA 50266
>>>> chathan-vemuri@xxxxxxxxx
>>>> (319)-512-9318
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list