Re-reading Foucault: On Law, Power and Rights

Law, Rights and Power: Re-Reading Foucault is the first collection in English to fully address the relevance of Foucault’s thought for law. Michel Foucault is the best known and most cited of the late twentieth-century’s ‘theory’ academics. His work continues to animate a range of different critical work across intellectual disciplines in the arts, humanities and social sciences. There has, however, been relatively little examination of the legal implications and applications of Foucault’s work. This book fills that gap, providing an in-depth analysis of Foucault’s thought as it pertains to the crucial questions of law, government and rights. This collection engages with key legal themes as they emerge, both in Foucault’s work and in the contemporary scholarship that surrounds it. These include: the opposition between ‘law’ and ‘the juridical’; legal ways of organising and processing knowledge; sovereignty; punishment; bio-politics and governmentality; security; resistance; and, judgment. Including contributions from acknowledged experts on Foucault’s work, as well as pieces by younger scholars, Law, Rights and Power: Re-Reading Foucault will be of considerable interest across a range of disciplines, including law, sociology, criminology, international relations, political theory, and philosophy.