Colloque

Identities in disarray: Trans Foucauldian and Feminist Reflections

Athena Colman

Membre a labase

Athena Colman

Résumé de la communication

Michel Foucault’s thought has made a substantial impact on Feminist Philosophy; in particular his influence looms large in the work of the so-called second wave or ‘difference’ feminists such as Irigaray, Braidotti and most notably Judith Butler. His problematization of subjectivity in terms of a historical discursivity inscribed in multiple and changing loci of power opened up both promising and troubling opportunities for feminist thought. These conceptual and political prospects have been variously negotiated over the past three decades by feminist thinkers. For instance, while Haraway embraces Foucault’s emphasis on the materiality of subjectivity she also criticizes his notion of ‘bio-power’ claiming that it is supported by an assumption of normalized heterogeneity which in fact has been made defunct by notions of networking. On the other hand, the work of Butler has thoroughly embraced the Foucauldian model—extending his thought to account for gender as ‘performance’ rather than a key to some essential identity. Recently, with the academic and institutional acceptance of the ‘trans’- perspective, Foucault’s account of subjectivity—especially as articulated through the work of Butler in her notion of performance—has been problematized. If feminist thinkers of the last thirty years or so engaged Foucault’s insights in order to recast the notion of identity in historically specific and discursively inscribed subjectivity, and in order to explore and politicize sites...

Résumé du colloque

Oui, Frédéric Gros, qui participe à l'édition des cours de Foucault, est un conférencier de marque. Nous en profiterons pour faire le lancement de la publication du cours de Foucault de 1984. La sortie du livre est prévue sous peu. Cela sera aussi une occasion de réunir ces spécialistes de Foucault pour d'éventuels travaux de recherche ensemble. À la suite de cette conférence, j'aimerais diriger et procéder à la publicationj d'un ouvrage sur les thèmes abordés lors de cette conférence.