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Governmentality

Turner, Ellen LU (2016) 1.
Abstract
Governmentality, a concept which originates from the work of the French philosopher Michel Foucault, primarily relates to an analytics of power which highlights the artificiality of government. The term refers to a way of understanding the functioning of power as that which emanates from diverse societal institutions rather than one centralized, top‐down source, such as the sovereign state. Over the last 20 years studies in governmentality have gained impetus and have led to the development of a variety of approaches across multiple disciplines, all of which use the concept in some way as a theoretical tool. Understood as such, governmentality can be viewed as a bundle of useful methods for understanding and unraveling how power functions... (More)
Governmentality, a concept which originates from the work of the French philosopher Michel Foucault, primarily relates to an analytics of power which highlights the artificiality of government. The term refers to a way of understanding the functioning of power as that which emanates from diverse societal institutions rather than one centralized, top‐down source, such as the sovereign state. Over the last 20 years studies in governmentality have gained impetus and have led to the development of a variety of approaches across multiple disciplines, all of which use the concept in some way as a theoretical tool. Understood as such, governmentality can be viewed as a bundle of useful methods for understanding and unraveling how power functions in different social and historical contexts, and how different societies think about power. This entry discusses developments in the field. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
literary theory, philosophy, poststructuralism, sovereignty
host publication
The Encyclopedia of Postcolonial Studies
editor
Ray, Sangeeta and Schwarz, Henry
volume
1
publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
ISBN
9781444334982
DOI
10.1002/9781119076506.wbeps197
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
f24f7406-5ed3-4994-8bd0-fcee4a28c5f1 (old id 8727756)
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 10:52:52
date last changed
2020-02-26 08:58:28
@inbook{f24f7406-5ed3-4994-8bd0-fcee4a28c5f1,
  abstract     = {{Governmentality, a concept which originates from the work of the French philosopher Michel Foucault, primarily relates to an analytics of power which highlights the artificiality of government. The term refers to a way of understanding the functioning of power as that which emanates from diverse societal institutions rather than one centralized, top‐down source, such as the sovereign state. Over the last 20 years studies in governmentality have gained impetus and have led to the development of a variety of approaches across multiple disciplines, all of which use the concept in some way as a theoretical tool. Understood as such, governmentality can be viewed as a bundle of useful methods for understanding and unraveling how power functions in different social and historical contexts, and how different societies think about power. This entry discusses developments in the field.}},
  author       = {{Turner, Ellen}},
  booktitle    = {{The Encyclopedia of Postcolonial Studies}},
  editor       = {{Ray, Sangeeta and Schwarz, Henry}},
  isbn         = {{9781444334982}},
  keywords     = {{literary theory; philosophy; poststructuralism; sovereignty}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
  title        = {{Governmentality}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/9781119076506.wbeps197}},
  doi          = {{10.1002/9781119076506.wbeps197}},
  volume       = {{1}},
  year         = {{2016}},
}