Genealogy, Systematisation and Resistance in 'Advanced Liberalism'

Abstract:     
Critics of governmentality often confuse its presentation of the rationalities and technologies of governance as implying both analytic acceptance of these programs, and the implication that these have been accepted by the population. In arguing against this misunderstanding, it is nevertheless accepted that some accounts of rationalities render them too internally consistent, and as too divorced from the processes whereby they are actually implemented or contested. It is argued that governmentality must take account of these 'messy' features of governance in order to understand both how governmental programs are constantly in change, and why this matters to an adequate account of governance - without threatening the central contributions of the approach.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 27

Keywords: governmentality, rationality, Foucault, politics, neo-liberalism

JEL Classification: K10, K14, K30

Accepted Paper Series