Studying at York
Governmentality: Michel Foucault & the Analytics of Power - POL00026H
Module will run
| Occurrence | Teaching period |
|---|---|
| A | Semester 1 2024-25 |
Module aims
Through a range of key theoretical texts and historical and contemporary examples, the module explores what Foucault understood by the concept of 'governmentality' and how different governmentalities of biopower have developed in relation to, for example, madness, criminality, sexuality, fertility, migration, citizenship, gender and race. The module also critically examines why these governmentalities of everyday life are increasingly defining who we are and where and how we are able to live.
The module aims to introduce students to the political and social theory of 'biopolitics' and 'biopower'; to investigate regimes of surveillance, sorting, regulation, control and confinement within state and non-state relations with subjects and populations; and to explain the role of biopolitics in contemporary strategies of political power in a range of state and non-state contexts.
Module learning outcomes
By the end of the module, students will have acquired a critical understanding of a variety of approaches to the study of governmentality drawing on the work of Michel Foucault and associated theorists.
Module content
Likely structure to include:
1 Intro
2 MF’s Hermeneutics
3 Crime and Punishment 1
4 Crime and Punishment 2
5 Madness and Civilisation
6 Sex and sexuality
7 From the Clinic to the Couch
8 The politics of life itself
9 Biopolitics
Indicative assessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Special assessment rules
None
Indicative reassessment
| Task | % of module mark |
|---|---|
| Essay/coursework | 100 |
Module feedback
Students will receive written timely feedback on their formative assessment. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor's feedback and guidance hours.
Students will receive written feedback on their summative assessment no later than 25 working days after submission in 2017/18, and from 2018/19, no later than 20 working days; and the module tutor will hold a specific session to discuss feedback, which students can also opt to attend. They will also have the opportunity to discuss their feedback during the module tutor's regular feedback and guidance hours.
Indicative reading
Agamben, Giorgio. Homo sacer sovereign power and bare life (1998).
Foucault, Michel. Security, Territory, Population (2009).
Rose, Nikolas The Politics of life itself: biomedicine, power, and subjectivity in the twenty-first century (2007).