Books by Mark G. E. Kelly
Articles & Chapters by Mark G. E. Kelly
Telos, 2020
We find ourselves today in a conjuncture where the use of language has become an object of politi... more We find ourselves today in a conjuncture where the use of language has become an object of political concern to a perhaps unprecedented extent, or at least in unprecedented ways. In particular, the words used to refer to individuals and to groups, down to the use of pronouns, have come into intense question, as have the ways in which groups are represented in the media and in positions of power. In light of this situation, I want to bring the analytical tools of a thinker peculiarly concerned with the nexus of language and politics, Michel Foucault, to bear in order critically to ana- lyze recent developments. This recent mutation of the politics of language has occurred mostly in the four decades since Foucault’s main writings on power and knowledge appeared, during a period in which Foucault’s name has become ubiquitous in academic discourse. Yet for all the ubiquity of references to Foucault, it seems to me that there has been precious little real thinking through of the implications of his analytic of power relations, and that there has been a failure to do this in relation to the use of language in politics in particular.
Contrivers' Review, 2018
The essay was originally commissioned and published by the apparently now-defunct web journal, Co... more The essay was originally commissioned and published by the apparently now-defunct web journal, Contrivers’ Review.
Contrivers' Review, 2015
This essay was originally commissioned and published by the apparently now-defunct website, Contr... more This essay was originally commissioned and published by the apparently now-defunct website, Contrivers' Review.
From the Cambridge Foucault Lexicon.
From The Cambridge Foucault Lexicon
In this paper, I critically assess Gilles Deleuze's 'societies of control' thesis in relation to ... more In this paper, I critically assess Gilles Deleuze's 'societies of control' thesis in relation to the work of Michel Foucault that provides its ostensible inspiration. I argue, contra Deleuzian readings of Foucault that contemporary society continues to be a form of the disciplinary-biopolitical society identified by Foucault as having emerged in the late eighteenth century. My argument for this is dual. On the one hand, I point to claims of Deleuze's that have not been borne out by subsequent developments, particularly the claim that disciplinary institutions are breaking down: while some institutions have declined, others (particularly the prison) have massively expanded. On the other hand, I argue that characteristics specifically assigned to societies of control by Deleuze were already part of disciplinary power as conceived by Foucault, noting that Foucault indeed uses the word 'control' as a synonym for discipline. I conclude that, due to his relative economism, Deleuze has misidentified real changes associated with the transition from Fordism to post-Fordism as comprising something much more dramatically new at a political level than they really are. That is, post-Fordism represents at most a modification of disciplinary power, rather than a new technology of power in a Foucauldian sense.
(Mis)Readings of Marx in Continental Philosophy, 2014
Thesis Eleven, Feb 2014
In this essay, I take as a starting point Foucault's rejection of two different ways of thinking ... more In this essay, I take as a starting point Foucault's rejection of two different ways of thinking about the future, prophecy and utopianism, and use this rejection as a basis for the elaboration of a more detailed rejection of them, invoking complexity-based epistemic limitations in relation to thinking about the future of political society. I follow Foucault in advocating immanent political struggle, which does not seek to build a determinate vision of the future but rather focuses on negating aspects of the current conjuncture. I extend this argument into an ethical register, arguing that the same arguments apply mutatis mutandis to our personal lives. I conclude by engaging with Jacques Lacan's account of subjectivity, and the interpretation of its political import furnished by Yannis Stavrakakis, drawing from these additional supports for my position, in particular the rejection of utopianism as an attempt to avoid limitation by the real.
A Companion to Foucault, 2013
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Books by Mark G. E. Kelly
Articles & Chapters by Mark G. E. Kelly