ABSTRACT
Conducted by Didier Eribon for the French newspaper Libération this interview, granted shortly after the 1981 election of Socialist President François Mitterrand, uncovers the Foucauldian imperative to place thought before the “sacrilization of the social.” To practice criticism demands not only a liberation of thought, but also an intellectual activity that makes conflicts visible through the action of theory. If transformation is to be achieved, it can only be realized in a permanent state of criticism. This interview was published under the title “Is it really important to think?” on May 30—31, 1981. The translation is by Alan Sheridan.
