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| Semester | fall semester 2018 |
| Course frequency | Irregular |
| Lecturers | Teresa Pullano (teresa.pullano@unibas.ch, Assessor) |
| Content | Michel Foucault's work, his approach to philosophy, but also history, politics and sociology, is by now a transversal research approach adopted by the social sciences and the humanities. From gender studies, to citizenship studies, to political science and sociology, Foucault's concepts and methods of inquiry allowed for a renewal of historical and contemporary studies of political and social phenomena. More precisely, this lecture focuses on the key concepts of governmentality, biopolitics, truth-telling or parrhésia, the hermeneutics of the subject and Foucault's genealogical method. Through the paradigm of governmentality, Foucault elaborates the idea that contemporary power is a networked and capillar form of power that expresses itself through technologies and practices of construction of the self, such as economics and self-management (the figure of the entrepreneur), the management of individual and collective health and sexualities, the control of our bodies. Modern politics regulates the forms of life, of reproduction and of death. Labour, in its material dimension, is key to contemporary neoliberal governmentalities. In this lecture, we will understand Foucault's paradigm of governmentally and we will see how it is applied in contemporary global studies of politcs, of sociology and of citizenship. We will read and explain essential parts of Foucault's second phase of his work, the, by now, well-known and acclaimed Lectures at the Collège de France. |
| Learning objectives | The objectives of the course are: I. Undertsanding in depth Foucault's key concepts of: 1. Governmentality 2. Biopolitics 3. Political Subjectivity and the Hermeneutics of the Self 4. Parrhésia or Truth-Telling 5. Genealogy II. Learning how to use Foucault's concepts in contemporary analysis of Global Studies, European Studies, Postcolonial Studies and Gender Studies. III. Gaining an overview of the field of Governmentality Studies in contemporary Social and Political Studies. |
| Bibliography | - Michel Foucault, The Birth of Biopolitics, Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978-1979, Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2008. - Michel Foucault, Security, Territory, Population, Lectures at the Collège de France, 1977-1978, Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2009. - Michel Foucault, The Government of Self and Others, Lectures at the Collège de France, 1982-1983, Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2010. - Michel Foucault, The Courage of Truth, Lectures at the Collège de France, 1984, Basingstoke, Palgrave, 2011. |
| Weblink | Europainstitut Basel |
| Admission requirements | This is a seminar for MA students. BA students in their final year of studies can also attend. The assessment will be graded on a scale from 1.0 to 6.0. |
| Language of instruction | English |
| Use of digital media | No specific media used |
| Course auditors welcome |
| Interval | Weekday | Time | Room |
|---|
No dates available. Please contact the lecturer.
| Modules |
Modul Themenfeld: Herrschaft, Normativität und symbolische Ordnung (Bachelor's degree subject: Gender Studies) Modul Vertiefung Themenfeld: Herrschaft, Normativität und symbolische Ordnung (Master's degree subject: Gender Studies) Modul: Basics: Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Erweiterung Gesellschaftswissenschaften M.A. (Master's degree subject: Political Science) Modul: Europäisierung und Globalisierung (Master's Studies: European Global Studies) Modul: Fields: Governance and Politics (Master's degree program: African Studies) Modul: Theorien der Geschlechterforschung (Master's degree subject: Gender Studies) Modul: Transfer: Europa interdisziplinär (Master's degree program: European History in Global Perspective) Modul: Transfer: Europa interdisziplinär (Bachelor's Studies - Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences) |
| Assessment format | record of achievement |
| Assessment details | A final written exam in class will be the assessment form. |
| Assessment registration/deregistration | Reg.: course registration; dereg.: not required |
| Repeat examination | no repeat examination |
| Scale | 1-6 0,5 |
| Repeated registration | as often as necessary |
| Responsible faculty | University of Basel |
| Offered by | Europainstitut |