Foucault for Beginners (Writers and Readers Documentary Comic Books: 62)

This gentle introduction to Foucault hits on and clarifies most of the high points of his theories and approach; namely, it is an exploration into the unfair divisions between those who meet and those who deviate from social norms. Foucault's main thesis is that: defining what is normal and abnormal are acts of "cultural construction," rather than revelations of deep epistemological truths. They are thus based on "social knowledge and truth" rather than on "abstract knowledge or epistemological truth." As in the case of war or international politics, social knowledge and truths are the result of "social constructions," very much a product of the power to engage in such constructions. Or put more simply, they are a clear case of the adage: "might makes right." Or said differently, they are as much a product of the power that wields them, as of epistemology. Since there are no social absolutes, those who wield the most social power (and can get enough people to believe in their constructions), get to define what is socially abnormal. In relief, normal then becomes the complementary or default universal category. For instance, since there is no absolute definition of what it means to be "insane." If enough powerful (spelled "authoritative") people decide that someone is "insane," for all intents and purposes, that person IS "insane." What remains, the residual, is considered the normal and the universal. The truth then is that such a definition is more about the ways in which social power is wielded than about the pursuit of knowledge, per se. How do some people get the power to create beliefs about us and then get the rest of us to accept their ideas of who we are? The short answer is that knowledge and power are incestuous allies. Like hand and glove, they work together transparently in the background through the medium of language and culture. The long answer is that it is done through the process of enculturation. Human beings are defined at the same time they are described. When a child learns to speak, he also "picks up" the basic knowledge and rules of the culture. Those who do the defining get to make up the categories involved in the definitions. Categories and language carry the weight of cultural knowledge. Yet even cultural knowledge (mostly categories, definitions and rules of behavior) is not immutable. It too changes over time. And there is always a large "gray" area between categories and definitions, and what is considered normal and abnormal. Definitions of what is considered insane, criminal, and perverted change over time and such definitions always overlap with "normal." What at one time would get a person jailed is considered "chic" in other times. During the Middle Ages, abnormalities were not hidden or excluded, but were accepted as an ordinary part of culture. And in those days, abnormalities were used to define what was normal rather than the other way around. In today's world, normal is "posited" in the abstract as

This is by far the best intro to Foucault I've read. Thinking like Foucault use lots of complex language and have really complex ideas, but this book explains those ideas in a very easy-to-understand way. It's short, so you'll be finished quickly, but you will get a really good (introductory) sense of Foucault's entire project. That sense will stick with you pretty well, too, because every page is illustrated. This is an important thinker, and I can't imagine a better introduction. Read it.

Somehow in college you don't get around to studying all the things you want to. After you gradaute you can't seem to pick up a 60 pound volume of someone's intellectual achievement, sit down infront a warm fire and pour over every paragraph- let alone do you find the time to just sit! The answer to those still desiring to learn more than the required number of credits in college is the "for Beginners" series. Condensing a subject's concepts to a user-friendly, entertaining and thought-provoking illustrated book is not easy. But this is as good as it gets! Although Foucault would proably have not approved of the "simplified" commentary of this book, it sure helps everyone else understand his contribution to French intellectualism.

The current wave of French intellectuals being given to obscure language, these introductory volumes are welcome. I especially enjoyed Fillingham's explication of the way that power and knowledge are inseperable, for Foucault. Having waded through The History of Sexuality in grad school, I now wish I had had this book to give me an overview of the work before I had plunged into it. I have read DERRIDA FOR BEGINNERS, and would have enjoyed hearing from Fillingham how Foucault's thought differs from Derrida's.

Sometimes flamboyant, sometimes astute, this book tours the reader through the strange and gutsy world of Foucault and his ideas. I really enjoyed it.