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76053-01 - Seminar: Power, Bodies and Theories of Recognition: Judith Butler and Michel Foucault (3 CP)
| Semester | fall semester 2025 |
| Course frequency | Once only |
| Lecturers | Marina Silenzi (marina.silenzi@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | This seminar analyzes the interrelation between power, the body, and theories of recognition in the thought of Judith Butler and Michel Foucault. Foucault’s concept of power will be introduced and examined as an ensemble of practices and discourses that not only repress but also produce normative subjects and bodies through mechanisms of surveillance, discipline, and biopolitics. In particular, we will explore how Foucault conceptualizes the body as a space inscribed with technologies of power and how control over the body became central to the formation of modern subjectivity. For Butler, the body is key to both the reproduction and subversion of social norms. Without explicitly focusing on Butler’s concept of gender, the seminar will introduce and elaborate on her notions of performativity, vulnerability, and precarity: all bodies can be inherently exposed to political and social vulnerability. However, not all bodies are treated or valued equally, as social and political conditions distribute vulnerability unequally. Certain bodies are more exposed to harm, violence, and exclusion because they do not conform to dominant social norms and are therefore more frequently subjected to precarious conditions. In this sense, the normativity of recognition becomes an act of power and exclusion: the recognition of a social identity depends on its conformity to certain norms, while those who do not meet these expectations are relegated to precarity, invisibility, or violence. In the normative processes of subjectivation, a dual dynamic occurs – both a process of recognition and of “misrecognition”. However, the body in this seminar will not only be examined as a space inscribed with power relations but also as a site of resistance. Drawing on Butler and Foucault, we will investigate how bodies can become agents of political resistance through performativity, protest, and the defiance of established norms. |
| Learning objectives | 1. To analyze the concept of power in relation to the body: To understand how disciplinary and biopolitical power (Foucault) and normative power (Butler) influence the constitution and regulation of bodies. 2. To examine the dynamics of social recognition (and misrecognition): To explore how social norms define who is recognized as a subject and whose lives are precarized or excluded. 3. To investigate forms of subjectivation and resistance: To analyze how individuals are shaped and controlled by power relations, but also how they resist and transform these relations (in terms of subjectivation for Foucault and performativity for Butler). 4. To understand precarity and biopolitics: To analyze how certain bodies are managed, valued, and marginalized in relation to their vulnerability (precarity in Butler’s thought) and how this relates to the control of populations (biopolitics in Foucault’s theory). 5. To explore the role of the body as a site of political resistance in both authors: To examine how bodies can become agents of resistance, either through practices of self-transformation (Foucault) or through performative resistance (Butler) that challenges the norms to which they are subjected. |
| Bibliography | Butler, Judith. 1990. Gender Trouble. New York: Routledge. ------- 1993. Bodies That Matter. New York: Routledge. ------- 2004. Precarious Life. New York: Verso. ------- 2009. Frames of War: When Is Life Grievable? New York: Verso. ------- 2015. Notes Toward a Performative Theory of Assembly. Harvard College. Chambers, Samuel A. und Carver, Terrell. 2008. Judith Butler and Political Theory: Troubling Politics. New York: Routledge. Driscoll, Catherine. 1999. „The Politics of Performative Identity: Judith Butler and Subversive Reiterations.“ In Contemporary Feminist Theories 27(4): 181-196. Elden, Stuart. 2017. Foucault: The Birth of Power. Cambridge: Polity Press. Faustino, Marta und Ferraro, Gianfranco. 2020. The Late Foucault: Ethical and Political Questions. London: Bloomsbury. Fraser, Nancy. 2003. Redistribution or Recognition? New York: Verso. Foucault, Michel.1975. Surveiller et punir: Naissance de la prison. Paris: Gallimard. -------- 2011. Il faut défendre la société. Paris: Gallimard. -------- 2004. Sécurité, territoire, population. Paris: Gallimard -------- 2004. Naissance de la biopolitique (1978-1979). Paris: Gallimard. -------- Histoire de la sexualité, Bd. I_IV: La Volonté de savoir (1976); L'Usage des plaisirs (1984); Le Souci de soi (1984); Les Aveux de la chair (2018, posthume). Paris: Gallimard. Gill Jagger. 2008. Judith Butler: Sexual Politics, Social Change and the Power of the Performative. New York: Routledge. Honneth, Axel. 1994. Kampf um Anerkennung. Frankfurt: Suhrkamp. -------- 1996. The Struggle for Recognition. Massachusetts: MIT Press. Kirby, Vicki. 2006. Judith Butler: Live Theory. New York: Continuum. Lawlor, Leonard und Nale, John. 2014. The Cambridge Foucault Lexicon. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. Lemke, Thomas. 2012. Foucault, Governmentality, and Critique. New York: Routledge. Lemm, Vanessa und Vatter, Miguel. 2014. The Government of Life: Foucault, Biopolitics, and Neoliberalism. New York: Fordham Univ. Press. Lloyd, Moya. 2007. Judith Butler: From Norms to Politics. Cambridge: Polity Press. Taylor, Charles. 1992. The Politics of Recognition. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. |
| Comments | Für Jurist:innen geeignet. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Course auditors welcome |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|---|---|---|
| wöchentlich | Wednesday | 10.15-12.00 | Steinengraben 5, Seminarraum gross 302 |
Dates
| Modules |
Modul: Kulturtechnische Dimensionen (Master's degree program: Cultural Techniques) Modul: Praktische Philosophie (Master's degree subject: Philosophy) Modul: Probleme der Praktischen Philosophie (Bachelor's degree subject: Philosophy) |
| Assessment format | continuous assessment |
| Assessment details | Presentation (20 min), active participation, reading of texts, two excused absences. - If necessary, a housework assignment will be requested Registration/deregistration for performance review: according to the official dates Important: Failure to attend the seminar without deregistering on time will result in a failing grade |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | Pass / Fail |
| Repeated registration | no repetition |
| Responsible faculty | Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, studadmin-philhist@unibas.ch |
| Offered by | Fachbereich Philosophie |