ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to introduce readers to the theoretical concepts and framework for analysis. The chapter seeks to provide readers unfamiliar with Foucault's work with a brief overview of some of the central concepts of his political thought, seeking to somewhat simplify a complex and dense body of literature. Michel Foucault was a French writer active during the second half of the twentieth century, although he himself would likely have denied such a claim. He was a social historian, political philosopher and activist, both influenced by and disillusioned with the rigidity and intolerance of Marxist politics in France in the 1950s. While turning his back on the Marxist politics and political institutions of the time, Foucault nevertheless had a continuing interest in Marxist thought, particularly with regard to the conceptualization of power and power relations. The chapter links the theory of networks of power to the concept of networked governance, indicating the similarities and differences between these conceptualizations of regulation.
