Jana Sawicki identifies the issues that have been most contentious in feminist efforts to appropriate Foucault's concepts on subjectivities, powers, and the social constructions of Western bodies to an activist form of feminism and feminist research. She is able to reconcile many issues, such as those some feminists have had with Foucault's conceptions of power and subjectivity, and Foucault's clear androcentrism into a feminist theory that moves beyond these arguments and appropriates what is beneficial in Foucault to a feminism I find rewarding.

This compact volume makes a good read and a great gift to any thinking person. A series of transcribed lectures, Fearless Speech introduces the notion of parrhesia - roughly "telling of the unvarnished truth" - as it has developed from Greek thought onwards. Foucault, acting here as the master historian of ideas, is precise and erudite, his language is clear, and his story inspires. The discussion begins with the origins of the word in early Greek thought and its use by Euripides in tragedy, and then moves on to discuss the place of parrhesia in democratic institutions, and ultimately its practices and its games.

Parrhesia is a type of speech that is neither rhetoric nor dialectic, though it has historically occupied an important space among both - forming perhaps a trialectic. Parrhesia is a species of truth that mandates its own telling, in a quasi-spiritual fashion if need be: the parrhesiastes, or truth-teller, is one who puts him- or herself at considerable risk, including the risk of death, with his or her words. It can easily be seen that parrhesia is an essential antecedent to criticism and critical theory, but it is also ubiquitous in many forms of discourse. The Jeremiads of prophetic speech, the jokes of court jesters, Che's formative travelogues around South America, Taussig's defacing messages to the academy, and the best-selling literature of Rushdie that was in the 1990s so ill-received by the Muslim community - all of these are examples of this powerful discourse-form at work and play.

I first ran across the term in Arpad Szakolczai's excellent volume on Weber and Foucault, "Parallel Life-Works." After reading FS, I was frankly amazed that the idea is not more widely discussed in university rhetoric classes. The concept is extremely fruitful, first of all, for anyone interested in rhetoric, dialectic, philosophy, and law. Moreover, for anyone studying Foucault's life or epistemic universe (orders of discourse, manifestation, dispositifs, and so on), parrhesia needs to be on the list of terms. For those interested in neo-Enlightenment thinkiers like Habermas and the communicative ethics thinkers like Benhabib and Miller, Rorty and the pragmatists, or the large and diverse group of scholars studying ideology (such as Teun van Dijk) within Critical Discouse Analysis, it's also a very worthwhile read.

Most of all, though, the book shows everyone - and not just the intellectual - that parrhesia needs to be incorporated within our everyday modes of thinking and speaking. To what extent are "we" speaking, and to what extent is ideology speaking through us? What power does our speech reproduce, and what might it transform? Is our speech emancipatory? Does it contribute to the complexity of thought? Does it leave more questions open than closed? Do we break new ground, or just re-hash the useless play of words? This is a book that will fuel the mind and inspire questions like these like few others I've recently read. If you're tired of reading about the "end of history" and post-post-everything thought, try this slim volume. Highly recommended.

great overview of what most consider a slight change in emphasis for foucault: consideration of self and its constitution. the interviews are the best part. foucault is candid and possibly more accessible than usual; although maybe as a consequence more vague at points as well.

Any fan of Foucault or Blanchot should greatly appreciate these two short homages. Maurice Blanchot was originaly a literary critic who later wrote fictions, philosophical essays, and unusual hybrids of the two. A contemporary and friend of Levinas, his work has had a huge impact on post WWII literature and continental philosophy. With astonishingly articulate language (as translated by Massumi), Foucault offers both a insightful commentary on Blanchot and an idea of what means to exit in the space of writing fiction. It is difficult to categorize Foucaults writing;perphaps he is best known as a writer who encouraged a modified (archealogical) method of examining history, and using this method prolifically wrote social/cultural/philosophical commentary. Blanchot writes on Foucaults writing with clarity and appreciation. If you are unfamiliar with these authors, this book makes for a good introduction; these writers may change the way you think, and you should read more. If you know these authors then you should definitely sympathize with the homage aspect: it's a great quick read (though you will probably need to read the layered language five times, and again late in life.)

In this book, Australian philospher Chris Falzon very clearly lays out the Foucaultian rejection of the metaphysical subject, the God-like transcendental subject that is suppose to provide the ultimate grounds for knowledge and action. Falzon argues that such rejection does not automatically lead to fragmentation as Habermas claimed. Rather the true postmodern path is the notion of dialogue, an ongoing encounter with the other. A superb introduction to Foucault's philosophy and postmodernism in general.

Vikki Bell successfully traces the historical origins of incest according those discourses which claim to know the truth about incest.By utilising a critical Foucauldian framework, she emphasises the shortfalls of feminist theoretical construction in the area, opening new challenges and spaces for further development. Bell utilises discourse analysis to demonstrate how different discourses have contributed to the concept of incest, how these have shaped the criminalisation of incest and how incest is problematised. This is an excellent piece of work where Foucauldian deconstructive techniques are juxtaposed with contemporary feminist thought, raising new dilemmas and challenges.

David R. Shumway does a brief and very helpful "overview" of Foucault for the academic beginner. It is an academic book that digs -- especially into The Order of Things - Foucault's groundbreaking piece concerning history and its tropic structures. Shumway has a real handle on the issue of "discourse." Shumway succinctly put it this way. "Discourse is no longer to be understood as the expression of the speaker, but rather the speaker is to be understood as part of discursive practice." (Shumway, 1989: 102) Power is also examined and Shumway points out that "it is the power of institutions and not the truth of discourse that excludes its false competitors. (Shumway, 1989: 104) Foucault is a historian of ideas, and his interest is in the way in which ideas are configured by the techniques, practices and rituals of institutions. According to Shumway, for Foucault, power is not something that is solely retained by institutions; rather power is dispersed and agreed to and reinforced by repetition and resistance. This is not an easy concept to grasp and Shumway makes it accessible to the novice scholar like myself. He points out that for Foucault, in the case of sexuality, the act of Confession -- first embraced by the Roman Catholic Church, and then later by psychoanalysts -- produced a kind of talk or "discourse" about sex that helped to shape the history of sexuality. Lastly, according to Shumway, Foucault advocates as a mode of political dissent, moving away from the disciplinary mindset. In the realm of good introductions/framing of Foucault discourse/authorial extension/examination, this books ranks among the giants and is a must for all serious Foucault scholars.

Miguel Llora

This is great for general reading on Foucault. It does a great job tying together a lot of the things Foucault tried to say in his books. If you're a policy debater trying to become a Foucault buff, get this book. The chapter on critique does an excellent job drawing the distinction between criticism and transformation. It's good stuff :)

Professor Payne takes extremely heavy texts, such as S/Z and makes them easier to understand. He has an extraordinary grasp of the subject matter that translates well to the classroom. I had the pleasure of taking his seminar in literary theory at Bucknell, and this book was one of the required texts.

Capably and collaboratively edited by Mauro Bertani and Allesandro Fontana, "Society Must Be Defended" is a collection of French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault's eleven lectures given at the College de France from 1975 to 1976, and which are ably translated into English for an American readership by David Macey. Offering an unusually insightful perspective and wisdom on a wide variety of educational topics ranging from the origin of feudalism, to the functions and domains of racism, to Hobbes' ideas on war and sovereignty, and a great deal more, "Society Must Be Defended" is a very thought-provoking and instructive collection from a uniquely informed and informative point of view. As Michel Foucault writes about this compilation of his views: "The role of history will, then, be to show that laws deceive, that kings wear masks, that power creates illusions, and that historians tell lies. This will not, then, be a history of continuity, but a history of deciphering, the detection of the secret, the outwitting of the ruse, and the reappropriation of a knowledge that has been distorted or buried. It will decipher a truth that has been sealed".