Open AccessWhy Michel Foucault in Norwegian Special-Education Research?
Author(s) -
Hege Knudsmoen,
Eva Simonsen
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
nordic journal of social research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1892-2783
DOI - 10.7577/njsr.2094
Subject(s) - sociology , governmentality , inclusion (mineral) , relevance (law) , michel foucault , discipline , subjectivity , special education , educational research , constructive , pedagogy , norwegian , power (physics) , epistemology , engineering ethics , social science , political science , politics , philosophy , linguistics , law , physics , process (computing) , quantum mechanics , computer science , engineering , operating system
This article seeks to identify what impact the works of Michel Foucault have had on special-education research in Norway. We also discuss what his writings may contribute to future research. Foucault’s perspectives are far from dominant in special-education research today. We present research within the relevant social sciences which has been influenced by Foucault and which has had impact on special-education research. We aim to demonstrate that Foucault’s genealogy of ethics may bring new insights and a new critical approach to special-education research. The ethics of inclusion are particularly constructive and productive in both pedagogy and special-education research. In the discussion of Foucault’s relevance in special-education research, we focus on his texts on governmentality to conduct and govern a learner and the ethics of inclusion. The mode of subjectivity highlights the productive nature of disciplinary power – how it names and categorizes learners, the conduct of conduct or how learners govern themselves under education