On the Politics of the Living
Foucault and Canguilhem on Normativity and Biopolitical Resistance

By (author) Federico Testa

ISBN13: 9781350299283

Imprint: Bloomsbury Academic

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC

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Published: 09/01/2025

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Description
Bringing the philosophies of Michel Foucault and Georges Canguilhem into dialogue, Federico Testa examines the notions of life and norms underlying our modern experience of politics. Today’s global health crisis acts as a stark reminder that life is at the core of our political debates and dilemmas. We can no longer think of forms of political organization, citizenship and participation without considering the materiality and precarity of our own organic life. Ours is a politics of the living. Within this context, this book examines Foucault’s work on the politicization of life and biopolitics through the lens of Canguilhem’s notion of norms. Testa extracts from Canguilhem’s philosophy the conceptual tools to re-interpret Foucault’s ideas on power, and reconceptualises normativity as a process of the creation of norms that provide tools for political and social analysis and for thinking resistance. In so doing, he uncovers new and important possibilities for biopolitical resistance. Demonstrating not only Canguilhem’s underexplored social and political concerns but also the intellectual osmosis between the two thinkers, On the Politics of the Living is an urgent examination of the ever-increasing significance of the concepts of life, care and health in today’s political discourse.
Introduction: Foucault, Canguilhem and the Power of Life Part I: Foucault and the Politics of Life 1. Problematizing Life: From ‘Biopower’ to ‘Way of Life’ 2. From Foucault to Canguilhem Part II: Life and Norms in Canguilhem 3. Canguilhem, Philosopher 4. The Normal and the Pathological 5. Vital Normativity, Disease and Health Part III: Foucault and the Power of Norms 6. The Power of Norms 7. Foucault and the "Archaeology of Normalizing Power" 8. The Functioning of the Norm 9. Normativity and the Arts of Life Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index
  • Social & political philosophy
  • Political science & theory
  • Professional & Vocational
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List Price: £85.00