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Når kritikken tager magten. Samfundskritik og magtforskydninger ifølge Foucault, Boltanski og Chiapello
Full text linkArtiklen forsøger at begrebsliggøre det teoretiske forhold mellem magtrelationer og kritik, men uden at formulere en ekstern, normativ målestok for den rette samfundskritik. Argumentet er derimod, at eftersom magtrelationer selv rummer muligheden for at internalisere kritikken, må effektiv magtkritik være intern og stå i et intimt forhold til det, der er genstanden for kritik. Dette argument udvikles ved hjælp af en række begreber fra Foucaults magtanalytik, ikke mindst forestillingen om “diskursernes taktiske polyvalens“, som desuden kobles til forholdet mellem kritik og gouvernementalitet. Dernæst vises det i en diskussion af Boltanski og Chiapellos værk om kapitalismens nye ånd, at deres analyse rummer en lignende dynamik mellem samfundskritik og omvending af hierarkierne om end der samtidig også er afgørende forskelle til Foucaults perspektiv på magt og kritik.
ENGELSK ABSTRACT:
Lars Thorup Larsen: When the Critics Take Power: Foucault, Boltanski & Chiapello on Critique and the Tactical Displacement of Power Relations
This article seeks to conceptualize the relationship between power relations and critique, but without formulating an external, normative yardstick for critique. On the contrary, the argument put forth here is that since power relations in themselves contain the possibility for internalizing critic, then an effective critique of these power relations must be internal and have a close relation to that which is the object for critique. This argument is developed by connecting the dots between some of Foucault’s concepts – in particular the notions of “contre-conduites“ and the “tactical polyvalence of discourse“ – and a somewhat similar dynamic between hierarchy and critical mechanisms in Boltanski and Chiapello’s work on the new spirit of capitalism. Based on this theoretical conceptualization of the dynamic, in which critique leads to a displacement of power relations, one can better understand the anti-authoritarian thrust of social critique after 1968. While this has not led to a replacement of power with pure self-government, it has however created an internalization of anti-authoritarian critique into new relations of power and government.
Key words: Critique, power, governmentality, Foucault, Boltanski
Guvernementalisering af velfærdsprofessionerne
Full text linkTraditionelt opfattes professioners autonomi som en direkte følge af den viden, de besidder, samt af de særlige opgaver denne viden tillader dem at løse, ikke mindst for staten. Denne autonomi er imidlertid sat under pres igennem talrige bølger af reformer i velfærdsstaten, hvad enten der er tale om reformer med henblik på bedre opgavevaretagelse eller om simple nedskæringer. Mens det er velbeskrevet i professionslitteraturen, hvorledes velfærdsreformer forsøger at regulere de professionelles økonomiske interesser, fx igennem New Public Management-inspirerede tiltag, søger denne artikel at vise en anden type udfordring af professionel autonomi. Påstanden er, at velfærdsprofessioner som fx lærere eller socialrådgivere er blevet gjort til agenter for politiske strategier på hvert sit policyområder og det på en mere direkte og systematisk måde end tidligere. Inspireret af Foucault karakteriseres denne udvikling i artiklen som en ”guvernementalisering” af velfærdsprofessionerne. Det betyder, at professionernes viden og identitet søges orienteret systematisk efter, hvorledes den professionelle bør lede borgerne i overensstemmelse med centrale politiske ambitioner på området. Frem for at være agent for professionens egne pædagogiske principper kan en pædagog ifølge denne logik i stedet blive agent i en integrationspolitisk dagsorden, mens skolelærerens professionelle praksis bliver systematisk orienteret efter centrale konkurrencepolitiske mål. Artiklen består af en indledende udvikling af begrebet om guvernementalisering efterfulgt af en tekstanalyse, der applicerer begrebet på centrale dokumenter omkring indholdet af fire velfærdsprofessioner i en dansk kontekst, nemlig skolelærere, pædagoger, socialrådgivere og sygeplejersker.
ENGELSK ABSTRACT:
Lars Thorup Larsen: The ”Governmentalization” of the Welfare Professions
The autonomy of professions is traditionally based on the knowledge required for the profession and the specific work that this knowledge enables professionals to carry out, not least for the (welfare) state. Waves of welfare state reform have put this autonomy under pressure, however, whether the reforms are aimed at efficiency or are simply cutbacks. A growing amount of literature about these professions shows how political reforms try to regulate the economic incentives of professionals, for example through initiatives inspired by New Public Management. This paper aims to show a different type of challenge to professional autonomy. It argues that welfare professionals such as teachers or social workers have become agents of new political strategies in their respective policy areas, and in a more direct and systematic way than previously. With inspiration from Foucault, this can be characterized as a “governmentalization” of the welfare professions. It means that both professional knowledge and identity become systematically restructured according to how the state would like professionals to govern its citizens in accordance with policy goals in the field. For instance, rather than being an agent of the profession’s own educational principles, a preschool teacher may be required to act professionally out of consideration of the national policy for the integration of immigrants because cultural norms are often exchanged in daycare facilities. Similarly, the professional work of a schoolteacher may be systematically retooled in order to improve the nation’s performance in international rankings of education. This paper develops the notion of “governmentalization” with respect to professions, which is then exemplified in a comparative textual analysis of four welfare professions – teachers, nurses, social workers and preschool teachers – in Denmark.
Key words: Professions, governmentality, welfare state, bureaucrats, textual analysis
Turning critique inside out: Foucault, Boltanski and Chiapello on the tactical displacement of critique and power
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The Leap of Faith from Disease Treatment to Lifestyle Prevention: The Genealogy of a Policy Idea
No full textSince the 1970s public health policy has attempted to counter the rise of chronic diseases by getting individuals to make healthy choices about smoking, alcohol, diet, and physical exercise. Inspired by the so-called new perspective of the 1974 Lalonde report, this shift from disease treatment to prevention has been a key focus of public health policy to this day. Every generation of public health reports presents prevention as the answer to past failures, but the continuous experience of failure is strangely coexistent with a fundamental belief in the ability of lifestyle prevention to produce large health improvements. The article tracks the genealogy of lifestyle prevention as policy idea across three generations of U.S. and Danish public health reports and finds a systematic interpretation of lifestyle prevention as being more successful and promising than acute medical treatment.</jats:p
Smoking Bans, Health and Science: A Comparative Study of Policy Networks and Smoking Policies in England, Germany and Denmark
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