Foucault und der Neoliberalismus

Ever since Michel Foucault's lectures on The Birth of Biopolitics were posthumously published in 2004, a debate has raged on the question of Foucault's precise relation to the politico-economic school of neoliberalism. While some qualified his lectures as straightforwardly neoliberal in spirit and criticized them as such, others saw in them abundant material for a critique of neoliberalism as a transformative post World War Two regime of governmentality. Yet others suggested that there was no telling whether Foucault was a neoliberal or not as he had not written enough on the subject to allow for a substantial final judgment. This paper reviews recent attempts to grapple with the difficult question of Foucault's relation to neoliberalism. It presents recent research literature that tries to locate Foucault's lectures in their historical context in order to free them from the many quick attempts to enlist him as either friend or foe of neoliberalism. Further, it suggests that the growing literature on neoliberalism can help to better recognize the strengths and weaknesses of Foucault's approach in The Birth of Biopolitics.

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