Michel Foucault
1926 — 1984
Biography
Michel Foucault was one of the most influential thinkers of the second half of the 20th century. His works cover the history of madness, sexuality, and the prison system.
Foucault investigated the connection between power and knowledge: power not only represses but also produces truth, norms, subjectivity. 'Disciplinary society' forms 'docile bodies' through surveillance and normalization.
He introduced the concepts of 'archaeology of knowledge' and 'genealogy of power' as methods of historical analysis.
Key Ideas
- Power and knowledge
- Disciplinary society
- Biopolitics
- Archaeology of knowledge
- Care of the self
Works
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Discipline and Punish
(1975)
History of the prison and discipline
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Madness and Civilization
(1961)
How society constructs madness
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The History of Sexuality
(1984)
Three-volume work on sexuality and power