Foucault: WTF? An Introduction to Foucault, Power and Knowledge

In this introduction to Foucault, we consider the relationship between knowledge and power through looking (primarily) at three books by Michel Foucault: Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, The Order of Things and The History of Sexuality (as well as, very briefly, History of Madness—sometimes published as Madness and Civilisation—and The Birth of the Clinic).

We unpack some of the terminology central to Foucault's philosophy such as episteme (and the shifts between epistemes), archaeology and genealogy. Finally, we look at how Foucault uses the panopticon—a plan for a uniquely utilitarian prison designed by Jeremy Bentham—in order to consider how discipline and punishment might have become a part of our everyday lives.

If you're look for the work of Michel Foucault explained simply and engagingly then, hopefully, this might be the video you're looking for!

If you'd like to get your hands on a copy of the script to this video with footnotes and references to pour over to your heart's content then check out my Patreon at http://patreon.com/tomnicholas

Further Reading

Foucault: A Very Short Introduction by Gary Gutting
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Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison by Michel Foucault
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The History of Sexuality, Vol. 1: An Introduction by Michel Foucault
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Twitter: @Tom_Nicholas
Website: www.tomnicholas.com

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