Abstract
Often overlooked by political scientists, Foucault's later work on ‘governmentality’ has much to offer political analysis. This paper does three things. First, it highlights three different meanings that Foucault and others give to this term. Second, it reviews some of the key debates – such as the nature of liberal governance – surrounding studies of governmentality. Finally, it illustrates the analytical promise of a governmentality perspective through a short discussion of recent developments in European governance.
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Notes
This argument certainly has certain similarities to the term ‘governance’ as it is used today by political scientists. Stoker, for instance, identifies such characteristics of governance as ‘the blurring of boundaries and responsibilities for tackling social and economic issues’ and the presence of ‘autonomous self-governing networks’ (Stoker, 1998: 18). But in many common uses of the term, governance is presented as a relatively recent development, a sort of ‘de-statisation’ of government often associated with the programme of neo-liberalism and the process of globalisation. It is worth noting that for Foucault government has always been heterogeneous and plural. For instance, even within the most bureaucratic and centralised welfare states there was a government of the social which operated also through the government and self-government of the family.
See the essays collected in Burchell et al, (1991).
The following paragraphs draw on Walters and Haahr (2005: chapters 2 and 6).
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Walters, W., Haahr, J. governmentality and political studies. Eur Polit Sci 4, 288–300 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.eps.2210038
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.eps.2210038