Universität Wien

230047 SE Foucault, medicine and critique (2011S)

4.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 23 - Soziologie
Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 24 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

  • Monday 11.04. 10:00 - 12:30 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 2, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Monday 11.04. 14:30 - 17:00 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 2, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Tuesday 12.04. 10:00 - 12:30 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 2, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Tuesday 12.04. 14:30 - 17:00 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 2, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Thursday 14.04. 10:00 - 12:30 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 2, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Thursday 14.04. 14:30 - 17:00 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 2, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Friday 15.04. 10:00 - 12:30 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 2, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock
  • Friday 15.04. 14:30 - 17:00 Inst. f. Soziologie, Seminarraum 2, Rooseveltplatz 2, 1.Stock

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Course Description

The course will provide an introduction to the thought of Michel Foucault, both generally and with reference to its relevance for the social scientific study of medicine, health and illness. There will be a total of 8 three-hour sessions, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, over four days. Each session will consist of a lecture followed by a seminar discussion. The seminar discussion will be introduced and facilitated by student presentations based on key texts read in advance by the whole group.

The course as a whole is structured around the three analytical dimensions of Foucault’s own work, namely: the dimension of knowledge, the dimension of power or forms of normativity, and the dimension of ethics or relations to the self. We will examine each of these in turn through the lens of Foucault’s writings on medicine and the body, and we will then discuss the integration of these dimensions through the concept of governmentality. On the final day we will explore approaches to the study of medical practice that are informed by Foucault while transcending some of the limits of the governmentality tradition.

Reading

Teaching and discussion will for the most part be based on the reading of primary texts, although references to secondary literature and to studies in medical sociology informed by Foucault will be provided in the reading list for each session.

1-2 article-length texts will form the basis of the seminar discussion for each session. These readings are compulsory and I will expect the whole group to have read them in advance of the start of the course (April 11th). A course outline with full details of compulsory readings for each week, as well as lists of suggested readings, will be online on fronter from the beginning of March.

A group of between 2 and 3 individual students will be given responsibility for introducing each seminar discussion on the basis of the key texts. Every student should expect to introduce a seminar discussion (as part of a group or team).

Assessment and permitted materials

Methods of Assessment

3000 word essay on a question chosen from a list to be circulated at the end of the course.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Examination topics

Methods of Assessment

3000 word essay on a question chosen from a list to be circulated at the end of the course.

Reading list

Indicative Readings

Greco, M. (2009) The health society: polemics and problematizations. Österreiche Zeitschrift für Soziologie. 34: 2-13-E (DOI: 10.1007/DOI)

Foucault, M. (1973) The Birth of the Clinic. London: Routlege. (esp. Preface and Conclusion).

Foucault, M. (1984) ‘Right of death and power over life’, in P. Rabinow (ed.) The Foucault Reader, New York: Penguin, pp. 258-272 (or: Part V of The History of Sexuality Volume 1: An Introduction. New York: Penguin, pp. 133-159)

Foucault, M. (1984) ‘We “Other Victorians”’ and ‘The repressive hypothesis’, in P. Rabinow (ed.) The Foucault Reader, New York: Penguin, pp. 292-330 (or: Parts I and II of The History of Sexuality, Volume 1: An Introduction, New York: Penguin, pp. 1-49.

Foucault, M. (1984) ‘The politics of health in the 19th Century’, in P. Rabinow (ed.) The Foucault Reader, New York: Penguin, pp. 273-289 (also in Foucault, M. (1980) Power/Knowledge Selected Interviews and Other Writings 1972-1977, edited by C. Gordon, Harvester Press, pp. 166-182).

Foucault, M. (1984) ‘Preface to The History of Sexuality, Volume II’, in P. Rabinow (ed.) The Foucault Reader. New York: Penguin, pp. 333-339.

Foucault, M. (1984) ‘Polemics, politics and problemizations: An interview with Michel
Foucault’, in P. Rabinow (ed) The Foucault Reader. New York: Penguin, pp. 381-390. (full text also freely available online, see below)

Gutting, G. (2005) ‘Introduction: Michel Foucault: A user’s manual’, in G. Gutting (ed.) The
Cambridge Companion to Foucault. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 1-27

Gutting, G. (1989) Foucault’s Archaeology of Scientific Reason. Cambridge, Cambridge
University Press. (Introduction and Chapter 3)

Gutting, G. (2005) Michel Foucault: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University
Press.

Mol, A. (2006) ‘Proving or improving: on health care research as a form of self-reflection’.
Qualitative Health Research. 16: 405-14.

Race, K. (2008) ‘The use of pleasure in harm reduction: Perspectives from The History of
Sexuality’. International Journal of Drug Policy. 19: 417-423.

Online Resources

This is a reliable website created and maintained by Claire O’Farrell, with links to a wealth of resources on Foucault:
http://www.michel-foucault.com/index.html

‘Polemics, politics and problemizations: An interview with Michel Foucault’ can be found online here: http://foucault.info/foucault/interview.html

Association in the course directory

in 905 : MA T VO Soziologische Theorien |
in 121: in Kombination mit SE Theorie Master (2SSt / 4 ECST) als VOSE Soziologische Theorien,
3. Abschnitt

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:39