The Cambridge Introduction to Michel Foucault

This book covers Foucault's major works in depth, and offers clear explanations of his key themes of power and discourse.

Lisa Downing (Author)

9780521682992, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 11 September 2008

152 pages
22.7 x 15.2 x 1 cm, 0.25 kg

French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault is essential reading for students in departments of literature, history, sociology and cultural studies. His work on the institutions of mental health and medicine, the history of systems of knowledge, literature and literary theory, criminality and the prison system, and sexuality, has had a profound and enduring impact across the humanities and social sciences. This introductory book, written for students, offers in-depth critical and contextual perspectives on all of Foucault's major published works. It provides ways in to understanding Foucault's key concepts of subjectivity, discourse, and power and explains the problems of translation encountered in reading Foucault in English. The book also explores the critical reception of Foucault's works and acquaints the reader with the afterlives of some of his theories, particularly his influence on feminist and queer studies. This book offers the ideal introduction to a famously complex, controversial and important thinker.

Preface
1. Life, texts, contexts
2. Works: madness and medicine
3. Works: the death of man
4. Works: authors and texts
5. Works: crime and punishment
6. Works: the history of sexuality
7. Critical receptions
Afterword
Guide to further reading
Index.

Subject Areas: Social & political philosophy [HPS], Literary theory [DSA]