Oct 262013
Security, Territory, Population: Lectures at the Collège de France 1977–1978 (Lectures at the College de France)
Marking a major development in Foucault’s thinking, this book takes as its starting point the notion of “biopower,” studying the foundations of this new technology of power over populations. Distinct from punitive disciplinary systems, the mechanisms of power are here finely entwined with the technologies of security. In this volume, though, Foucault begins to turn his attention to the history of “governmentality,” from the first centuries of the Christian era to the emergence of the modern na
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Indespensible,
These are the complete course lectures in which Foucault developed his theory and history of “governmentality” as a discursive threshold of modern society.
This volume is critical to any student of Foucault or government in general. To the Foucault student, it refines his concept of power and signifies a break from power as “domination” to power as the “conduct of conduct.” This is the first printing of the full lecture series, of which only two portions were available previously, and shows the full empirical range of his study of governmentality.
To the more general student of government, this work is equally valuable. It clearly situates government as a practice contingent upon durable forms of thought and action in western history. It is primarily concerned with the shift from governing territory to governing populations with the emergence of liberalism and the collapse of feudalism. More advanced students may find this work especially useful because of its contraposition to marxism, critical theory, and mainstream liberal critiques of government. In this respect, it offers a genuinely alternative voice to the problems and prospects of modern politics – a very rare achievement.
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Definately worth the effort,
I wish I had got around to reading this much sooner. “Security, Territory, Population” is one in a series of lectures Foucault delivered at the College de France. I started here to find out more about Foucault’s development of the concept of government and was so impressed that I have come back to Amazon to order the other books in the series. This series is as clear and accessible as anything I have ever read by Foucault. The lecture format is much more conversational in style than his books but still as wide ranging and impressive in examples. The lectures are intriguing as you see Foucault’s ideas literally develop and fill out week to week.
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Indisputably Groundbreaking,
These lectures — more so than many in this excellent series — contain novel ideas and formulations ripe for further research. From a new conceptualization of the state, to a unique account of the Protestant Reformation, and lineages of absolutist monarchy, Machiavelli criticism, and the birth of the Police state, if his approach seems fragmentary and incomplete, it is because we are reading the raw thought materials of a masterful scholar at the top of his game.
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