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From micro-powers to governmentality: Foucault's work on statehood, state formation, statecraft and state power.

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From micro-powers to governmentality: Foucault's work on statehood, state formation, statecraft and state power. / Jessop, Bob.
In: Political Geography, Vol. 26, No. 1, 18.09.2006, p. 34-40.

Research output: Contribution to Journal/MagazineJournal articlepeer-review

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Jessop B. From micro-powers to governmentality: Foucault's work on statehood, state formation, statecraft and state power. Political Geography. 2006 Sept 18;26(1):34-40. doi: 10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.08.002

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@article{f98c53c625d449ceb5a253954717b97b,
title = "From micro-powers to governmentality: Foucault's work on statehood, state formation, statecraft and state power.",
abstract = "This article revisits Foucault's analytics of power in the light of his lectures on governmentality and biopolitics in Society must be Defended (1975-6), Securit{\~A}{\textcopyright},territoire, population (1977-8) and Naissance de la biopolitique (1978-9). Foucault is renowned for his criticisms of state theory and advocacy of a bottom-up approach to social power; and for his hostility to many theoretical and practical manifestations of orthodox Marxism. Yet these lectures, especially those on governmentality, are directly and explicitly concerned with statehood, state formation, statecraft, and state power and the subsequent role of new forms of government and political calculation in guiding capitalist reproduction. They cast new light on Foucault's alleged antistatism and anti-Marxism and offer new insights into his restless intellectual development. Accordingly, this article reviews Foucault's hostility to Marxism and theories of the state, considers his apparent turn from the micro-physics and microdiversity of power relations to their macro-physics and strategic codification through the governmentalized state, and suggests how to develop an evolutionary account of state formation on the basis of these new arguments about emerging forms of statecraft.",
keywords = "Foucault, power, governmentality, state formation, statecraft, evolutionary analysis.",
author = "Bob Jessop",
note = "The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Political Geography, 26 (1), 2007, {\textcopyright} ELSEVIER.",
year = "2006",
month = sep,
day = "18",
doi = "10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.08.002",
language = "English",
volume = "26",
pages = "34--40",
journal = "Political Geography",
issn = "0962-6298",
publisher = "Elsevier BV",
number = "1",

}

RIS

TY - JOUR

T1 - From micro-powers to governmentality

T2 - Foucault's work on statehood, state formation, statecraft and state power.

AU - Jessop, Bob

N1 - The final, definitive version of this article has been published in the Journal, Political Geography, 26 (1), 2007, © ELSEVIER.

PY - 2006/9/18

Y1 - 2006/9/18

N2 - This article revisits Foucault's analytics of power in the light of his lectures on governmentality and biopolitics in Society must be Defended (1975-6), Securité,territoire, population (1977-8) and Naissance de la biopolitique (1978-9). Foucault is renowned for his criticisms of state theory and advocacy of a bottom-up approach to social power; and for his hostility to many theoretical and practical manifestations of orthodox Marxism. Yet these lectures, especially those on governmentality, are directly and explicitly concerned with statehood, state formation, statecraft, and state power and the subsequent role of new forms of government and political calculation in guiding capitalist reproduction. They cast new light on Foucault's alleged antistatism and anti-Marxism and offer new insights into his restless intellectual development. Accordingly, this article reviews Foucault's hostility to Marxism and theories of the state, considers his apparent turn from the micro-physics and microdiversity of power relations to their macro-physics and strategic codification through the governmentalized state, and suggests how to develop an evolutionary account of state formation on the basis of these new arguments about emerging forms of statecraft.

AB - This article revisits Foucault's analytics of power in the light of his lectures on governmentality and biopolitics in Society must be Defended (1975-6), Securité,territoire, population (1977-8) and Naissance de la biopolitique (1978-9). Foucault is renowned for his criticisms of state theory and advocacy of a bottom-up approach to social power; and for his hostility to many theoretical and practical manifestations of orthodox Marxism. Yet these lectures, especially those on governmentality, are directly and explicitly concerned with statehood, state formation, statecraft, and state power and the subsequent role of new forms of government and political calculation in guiding capitalist reproduction. They cast new light on Foucault's alleged antistatism and anti-Marxism and offer new insights into his restless intellectual development. Accordingly, this article reviews Foucault's hostility to Marxism and theories of the state, considers his apparent turn from the micro-physics and microdiversity of power relations to their macro-physics and strategic codification through the governmentalized state, and suggests how to develop an evolutionary account of state formation on the basis of these new arguments about emerging forms of statecraft.

KW - Foucault

KW - power

KW - governmentality

KW - state formation

KW - statecraft

KW - evolutionary analysis.

U2 - 10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.08.002

DO - 10.1016/j.polgeo.2006.08.002

M3 - Journal article

VL - 26

SP - 34

EP - 40

JO - Political Geography

JF - Political Geography

SN - 0962-6298

IS - 1

ER -