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Foucault and political anthropology
Author(s) -
Abélès Marc
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
international social science journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.237
H-Index - 43
eISSN - 1468-2451
pISSN - 0020-8701
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2451.2009.00679.x
Subject(s) - governmentality , michel foucault , sociology , anthropology , politics , power (physics) , perspective (graphical) , political anthropology , epistemology , social science , philosophy , political science , law , physics , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science
French anthropologists gave Michel Foucault's works a very different, rather cool reception, from that of their North American counterparts, who turned Foucault into an essential reference. This difference deserves to be analysed because it is symptomatic of the differences in perspective between US and French anthropology. At a deeper level, it posits the question of the relations between philosophy and anthropology. In the case of US anthropology, Foucault's reflection on the relationships between power and knowledge influenced the critical thinking that developed at the end of the twentieth century. This article shows what impact Foucault's writings on power have had on recent developments in political anthropology: today, his concepts of governmentality and bio‐politics are having a remarkable impact and we find them applied in many empirical studies.