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On the Politics of the Living
Foucault and Canguilhem on Life and Norms
On the Politics of the Living
Foucault and Canguilhem on Life and Norms
Description
Bringing the philosophies of Michel Foucault and Georges Canguilhem into dialogue, Federico Testa examines the notions of life and norms underlying our modern experience of politics.
Today's global health crisis acts as a stark reminder that life is at the core of our political debates and dilemmas. We can no longer think of forms of political organization, citizenship and participation without considering the materiality and precarity of our own organic life. Ours is a politics of the living.
Within this context, this book examines Foucault's work on the politicization of life and biopolitics through the lens of Canguilhem's notion of norms. Testa extracts from Canguilhem's philosophy the conceptual tools to re-interpret Foucault's ideas on power, and reconceptualises normativity as a process of the creation of norms that provide tools for political and social analysis and for thinking resistance. In so doing, he uncovers new and important possibilities for biopolitical resistance.
Demonstrating not only Canguilhem's underexplored social and political concerns but also the intellectual osmosis between the two thinkers, On the Politics of the Living is an urgent examination of the ever-increasing significance of the concepts of life, care and health in today's political discourse.
Table of Contents
List of Abbreviations
Part I: Reframing A Philosophical Encounter
Introduction: Foucault, Canguilhem, and the Power of Life
1. From Foucault to Canguilhem
2. Canguilhem and Foucault beyond Historical Epistemology
Part II: Life and Norms in Georges Canguilhem
3. Canguilhem, Philosopher
4. The Normal and the Pathological
5. Vital Normativity
Part III: Foucault and the Power of Norms
6. Vital and Social Norms
7. Foucault and the “Archaeology of Normalizing Power”
8. The Itinerary of the Norm
Part IV: Normativity and Critique
9. Normativity and the Arts of Life
10. The Political “Awe” of Genealogy: On Critique as an Art of Listening
Notes
General Bibliography
Index
Product details

Published | 17 Apr 2025 |
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Format | Ebook (PDF) |
Edition | 1st |
Extent | 352 |
ISBN | 9781350299290 |
Imprint | Bloomsbury Academic |
Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing |
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