ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the work of French philosopher, historian and social theorist Michel Foucault. A central tenet of Foucault’s work is that there is nothing ‘normal’ or ‘natural’ about social practices; rather, what is seen as normal is so because of normalizing practices (Foucault, 2002a). Foucault used many different tools and strategies to investigate and analyse a wide range of social practices. Our discussion will use examples from a ropes course experience as a means of examining Foucault’s notions of power, surveillance and governmentality.
