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Foucault and Wittgenstein: Practical Critique and Democratic Politics
Get PDFThis paper aims to explore a set of convergence points between Foucault’s and Wittgenstein’s perspectives on philosophy and language, integrating them into a mutually complementary approach that I term ‘practical critique.’ The concept of ‘practical critique’ is founded on three pillars: the understanding of philosophy and language as critical practices, the public nature of language, and confessional subjectivity. I examine these three areas of convergence across three subsequent sections. In the concluding section, I discuss how this perspective can be fertile for understanding democratic politics today. I argue that all three pillars predominantly support democratic politics over any other political form. To explain that, I engage with the debate on the language of democratic theory and the potential expansion of the understanding of the public sphere. The notion of the public that emerges from this perspective offers an alternative or supplementation to the classical Habermasian view of the public sphere and democratic theory. It is envisioned as an open space of discursive multiplicity and diversity, where practices of exclusion or oppression can be made visible, challenged, and resisted
On Foucault’s Legacy: Governmentality, Critique and Subjectivation as Conceptual Tools for Understanding Neoliberalism
Get PDFThe text addresses Foucault’s critical understanding of neoliberalism as a new contemporary governmentality strategy for the conduction of people’s lives. A major aspect of Foucault’s analysis of neoliberalism relies on his understanding of the neoliberal homo oeconomicus as dependent on subjectivation processes related to self-assumed values and standards oriented by the competitive economic market. Our hypothesis is that governmentality, critique and subjectivation are the core notions that shaped Foucault’s understanding of neoliberalism and form the legacy of his seminal analysis. Contrary to critics who affirm that Foucault flirted or even became fascinated with neoliberalism, we argue that he offered critical tools for its understanding in a critique that is not to be confused with denunciation, however. Accordingly, we discuss Foucault’s conception of critique and relate his analysis of neoliberalism to his notions of governmentality and subjectivation. Finally, we briefly point out how some contemporary critics of the neoliberal order have appropriated and developed Foucault’s conceptual tools in their own understanding of it. We conclude that although Foucault did not propose a comprehensive theory of neoliberalism, he offered important critical insights for the understanding of it in our times
Foucault Studies No. 36 Special Issue: Foucault's Legacy in Contemporary Thinking: Forty Years Later (1984-2024)
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Mooring Buddhism: Chinese Infrastructures and Buddhist School Building in Central Namibia
Get PDFThis article addresses the introduction of Buddhism to southern Africa in recent decades as part of the growing Chinese infrastructure on the continent. Based upon over thirty months of in-depth ethnographic research conducted at a Buddhist NGO in Central Namibia between 2021 and 2024, this arti- cle argues that, rather than serving as a source of spiritual inspiration and fulfilment, Buddhism in this context has become a form of (Chinese) infra- structure that enables and disables specific ways of acting, speaking and living among the Namibians who work at the NGO. It shows how Buddhism as a form of infrastructure slowly, subtly, yet surely becomes moored in the daily lives of the local people
»Og husk at vi ikke har mistet omsorgen for våre barn. Den er blitt tatt fra oss« – Om hvordan foreldre som har blitt fratatt omsorgen inkluderes og ekskluderes i samfunnet
No full textArtikkelen er et resultat av et forskningsprosjekt som studerer omsorgsovertakelser fra et foreldreperspektiv i Norge. I denne artikkelen undersøker vi hvordan mødre som er fratatt omsorgen for sine barn inkluderes og ekskluderes i samfunnet og på den måten blir gitt ulike subjektidentiteter. Identiteter den enkelte ikke nødvendigvis kjenner seg igjen i, men som like fullt kan medføre ekskludering og utestengelse fra avgjørende velferdsgoder. Det å være inkludert i barnevernets system innebærer ikke nødvendigvis å motta hjelp den enkelte opplever som hjelpsom. Heller fremstår barnevernet å være frakoblet det sosialfaglige system hvor livsbetingelser og omsorgskompetanse blir sett i en sammenheng. Heller ikke det rettslige system synes å kommedisse foreldrene til unnsetning. Avslutningsvis tematiseres menneskerettighetenes mulig funksjon for foreldre som er fratatt omsorgen for sine barn. Artikkelen er forankret i Niklas Luhmanns systemteori