The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the Collège de France, 1978--1979 (Lectures at the College de France)

This book is a collection of lectures that Foucault gave. They are focused on the development of Neo-liberalism after World War II, in Germany and the U.S. Foucault traces the development of this theory and how how it differs in Germany and the U.S. respectively. The book being a collection of his lectures, it is at times choppy when reading, because at times the recordings were not able to pick up what was being said. The editor of the book does a wonderful job at acknowledging these parts, but I did not find them detracting from the work. The editor also wrote the lectures in a way that reproduces the lecture so that one can close their eyes and easily imagine themselves there listing to them. The analysis of Neo-Liberalism in this book is the best that I have ever read, and the depth of thought is amazing. It is not an easy read, but one that anyone interested in theory or Foucault should read. It is enjoyable and worth every penny spent.

I am a historian doing researches on the economic and legal development in Chinese early modern history. Reading Foucault's The Birth of Biopolitics is a wonderful experience, I learned a lot and cannot help but to think that the dialectics between "external politics" and "internal politics" in Europe from 17thc on may probably constitute an interesting and plausible comparative framework against the deployment of statecraft project in the sixteenth to eighteenth century China.

This is a book that I have found myself going back to over the years I have owned it, as only slowly did it's importance become apparent. This is partly its weakness, like many Focault books, it works sideways and sometimes seems to go in circles, and it is easy to become lost in the heavy verbage. However, if you can hang on, you will find, like most of his books, a logic structure at work that suddenly hits you with its weight. This book is that in its, for its time then and now, ground breaking analysis of neoliberalism/free market fundamentalism. It follows from the Security, Territory, Population lecture in analyzing the development of the idea of political economy and traces its praxis. In this book we see that course run to the most modern period Focault is said to have covered, looking at the development of post WW2 political economy, specifically the neo (ordo) liberals of the West, specifically Germany and U.S., covering ideologues like Hyek, Friedman, Mises, and others.The major drawback is that it feels that the actual title, Birth of Biopolitics is never fully connected to the course material, leaving a sense of a project unfinished. Otherwise this is a very practical political analysis, a college course in free market fundamentalism and its relevancy to our world. Should be read in conjunction with the books 'The Shock Doctrine', and 'Dark Money', as well as the lecture before it, 'Security, Territory, Population'. You study his style of investigation and analysis as much as the actual topic covered.

Very good book, very actual.

A large number of pages are printed like they are out of focus. Extremely difficult to read. Wish I would have realized this and returned it before it was too late.

was great

Excellent copy, as described

Fast, honest.

I received the book in excellent condition. Very satisfied.

A Good Book

arrived on time - all good and what i was expecting. . . . . . . . . satisfied, thanks

It is obvious that neoliberalism (American neo-liberalism, Foucault would say if he were still alive.) is supremacy in terms of the structure of the contemporary global political economy.It is worth noting that he was aware of the ongoing transformation to neo-liberal market as well as that of social and political life at that time. Some scholars contend that the global political economy had a shift to the neo-liberalism from mid-1970s to 1980s.I think he well classifies two streams of neo-liberalism, Ordliberalism and American neo-liberalism from the historical perspective. Moreover, he critically examines the correlation of the governmentality based upon Raison d`etre and neoliberalist critique towards it. Liberalists have been criticizing the government according to the criterion whether it governed too much or not. Their benchmark was political economy and it entailed piety of naturalism. I suspect, though Foucault doesn’t clearly mentioned, Liberalist assessed the state and its political economy referring to utilitarian ethics.For my impression, Ordliberalism still has a certain amount of protections from the government for its citizens in the case of volatile situation such as unemployment. However, “American” version seems to be more competitive and ruthless than the former. Foucault pointed out that American neo-liberalists tend to regard objects or domains, which has previously been non-economic, as economic. He takes “the human capital” as an example. For Foucault, in the neo-liberalist logic, people are “homo economics” acting as if they are entrepreneurs. Thus, they have to reduce risk for their and their posterity’s economic life. In turn, some aspects of social life such as health care, education are to be invested by parents. If some neglect this, they are “losers” compared to “winners” who successfully invested in the human capital. In my opinion, this is what we see in everyday life and take it for granted, especially in “developed countries”.Overall, while this book gave me incisive perspectives, Foucault hardly addressed issues including inequality or environmental destruction. He just explained some mechanisms or premises in liberalist discourse. However, his lecture collection gives us a critical perspective in looking into our society in which Neo-liberalist logic widely pervades.

It is a shame that this author is unknown by the mass,this guy is an eyes-opener.All about his work is amazing.