1st Edition

Critical And Effective Histories Foucault's Methods and Historical Sociology

By Mitchell Dean Copyright 1994
    248 Pages
    by Routledge

    248 Pages
    by Routledge

    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.

    Acknowledgements Introduction 1. Sociology, Foucault, and the uses of history 2. Presentist perspectives Excursus: Foucault and Annales 3. Questions of enlightenment 4. Weber, rationality, and the subject 5. A 'specific and peculiar rationalism'? Beyond the rationalisation thesis 6. Absent history and enlightenment dialectics Postscript: the problem with critique 7. Habermas modernist translations 8. Thematics of state and power Excursus: Time, space, and power 9. Governmentality 10. ....and practices of the self Conclusion

    Biography

    Mitchell Dean

    '... a thoughtful critique of sociology, history and philosophy which thankfully avoids the more obvious and repetitive lines of Foucauldian commentary.' - Radical Philosophy