Foucault, Marxism, and critique

Despite the great social, political, cultural and economic changes that have taken place in the twentieth century, social scientists continue to make sense of the present in terms which are deeply rooted in nineteenth-century thought. This is particularly true in the case of critical forms of analysis and theory, which have continued to be articulated principally in Marxist terms. Nevertheless, it has become increasingly apparent that there are both limits and limitations to Marxist analysis. It is in the context of a discussion of the critical problems of Marxism and associated debates and responses that this study presents a commentary on the work of Foucault, and considers its relation to Marxist analysis. Barry Smart examines the relevance of Foucault’s work for developing an understanding of those issues which lie beyond the limits of Marxists theory and analysis–issues such as ‘individualising’ forms of power, power-knowledge relatioins, the rise of ‘the social’, and the associated socialisation of politics. He argues that there are clear and substantial differences between Foucault’s genealogical analysis (derived from Nietzsche’s conception of genealogy) and Marxist theory and analysis is the activity of critique rather than the provision of programmes, prophecies or policies. In consequence, Smart presents Foucault’s work as a new form of critical theory, whose object is a critical analysis of rationalities, and of how relations of power are rationalised.