ABSTRACT

First Published in 2004. This work places Foucault's methodologies against social theory and philosophy in order to provide a guide to social sciences, particularly historical sociology. Written to clarify Foucault's contribution for professional and non-professional readers, the text demonstrates the originality and usefulness of Foucault's work and embodies a conviction that Foucault's approaches could transform sociology into an effective, multi-focused, relevant discipline. Finally, the book illustrates that his methods provide the necessary condition for any state-of-the-art social research today, addressing his methodological position and establishing its relationship to Nietzsche, Kant, Weber, Elias, Habermas, Giddens, and the Annales and Frankfurt Schools.

chapter |6 pages

Introduction

chapter 2|20 pages

Presentist perspectives

chapter 3|15 pages

Questions of enlightenment

chapter 4|16 pages

Weber, rationality, and the subject

chapter 7|21 pages

Habermas’ modernist translations

chapter 8|33 pages

Thematics of state and power

chapter 9|20 pages

Governmentality…

chapter 10|19 pages

…and practices of the self