Excavating Government: Giorgio Agamben’s Archaeological Dig

Authors

  • Sophie Fuggle King's College, London

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22439/fs.v0i7.2638

Abstract

This paper looks at the development of certain Foucauldian concepts and themes within the work of the Italian philosopher, Giorgio Agamben. Where Agamben is well-known for his critique of biopower in Homo Sacer, his recent work a more complex engagement with Foucault both in terms of his subject matter, governmentality and economy (oikonomia), and his critical methodology, most notably, his reaffirmation of the value of Foucault’s archaeological method. Focusing on three of Agamben’s recent publications, Signatura Rerum: Sul Metodo, Il regno e la gloria. Per una genealogia teologica dell'economia e del governo and What is an Apparatus?, the article looks first at Agamben’s development of Foucault’s archaeological method within his own concept of the signature. It then goes on to consider Agamben’s identification of an economic theology in contradistinction to Schmitt’s political theology and how Agamben’s discussion of collateral damage might be related to Foucault’s notion of security as developed in Security, Territory, Population. Finally, the article considers how Agamben links Foucault’s notion of ‘dispositif’ [apparatus] to an economic theology of government, calling for the development of counter-apparatuses in a similar way to Foucault’s call for ‘resistances.’ The article concludes by considering both the benefits and the limitations of Agamben’s engagement with Foucault.

Author Biography

Sophie Fuggle, King's College, London

Sophie Fuggle is completing a PhD at King's College London which looks at conceptions of power in the work of Michel Foucault and the letters of Saint Paul. Her research interests include the relationship between theology and philosophy, critical theory and urban geography. She is currently co-editing a special issue of The Journal of Cultural and Religious Theory on Foucault and Saint Paul (forthcoming 2010). She is also the co-editor of Word on the Street (IGRS, forthcoming 2009), a collection of essays which looks at the street as both product and site of discourse.

Downloads

Published

2009-09-07

How to Cite

Fuggle, S. (2009). Excavating Government: Giorgio Agamben’s Archaeological Dig. Foucault Studies, (7), 81–98. https://doi.org/10.22439/fs.v0i7.2638

Issue

Section

Articles