The Purview of the Particular: Power and Method in Foucaultian Genealogy

Abstract

If Foucault was anything, he was a particularist. And yet, if we are to find valuable tools in his method today, they must be able to assist our framing and analysis of non-particular issues. By what means can Foucault's methods grasp trans-contextual problems? I investigate this question by reconsidering the status of power in Foucault's genealogical method. Rather than acting as an object of inquiry, I propose that power operates as an orienting analytical category at the level of Foucault's method. I make the case that conceiving of power in this way facilitates a substantial degree of generalization of his approach that he and his commentators have frequently been wary of claiming. This rethinking of power and method establishes the capacity for Foucaultian methods to address contemporary systemic and global problems.