{"title":"The dispositif is alive! Recovering social agents in Foucauldian analysis.","authors":"Johan Gøtzsche-Astrup, Kaspar Villadsen","doi":"10.1111/1468-4446.13174","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Michel Foucault's concept of the dispositif is increasingly salient in sociological scholarship. We identify and criticise an 'anonymous' emphasis in this scholarship, which often presents the dispositif as an anonymous network that acts without human agents. To remedy this tendency we develop an agent-inclusive version of the dispositif for sociological research. Turning to Foucault's work from the 1970s, we recover descriptions of how social groups act as instigators of dispositifs through their invention of tactics and techniques. We develop these into an agent-inclusive version of dispositional analytics and suggest five steps to pursue in empirical analysis. We exemplify these steps through a historical case of protesting. Finally, we show how our revisionist version of the dispositif meets critiques of Foucault's agentless approach and discuss the implication for a further integration of sociological research with dispositional analytics.</p>","PeriodicalId":51368,"journal":{"name":"British Journal of Sociology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.7000,"publicationDate":"2025-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"British Journal of Sociology","FirstCategoryId":"90","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.13174","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"SOCIOLOGY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Michel Foucault's concept of the dispositif is increasingly salient in sociological scholarship. We identify and criticise an 'anonymous' emphasis in this scholarship, which often presents the dispositif as an anonymous network that acts without human agents. To remedy this tendency we develop an agent-inclusive version of the dispositif for sociological research. Turning to Foucault's work from the 1970s, we recover descriptions of how social groups act as instigators of dispositifs through their invention of tactics and techniques. We develop these into an agent-inclusive version of dispositional analytics and suggest five steps to pursue in empirical analysis. We exemplify these steps through a historical case of protesting. Finally, we show how our revisionist version of the dispositif meets critiques of Foucault's agentless approach and discuss the implication for a further integration of sociological research with dispositional analytics.
期刊介绍：
British Journal of Sociology is published on behalf of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is unique in the United Kingdom in its concentration on teaching and research across the full range of the social, political and economic sciences. Founded in 1895 by Beatrice and Sidney Webb, the LSE is one of the largest colleges within the University of London and has an outstanding reputation for academic excellence nationally and internationally. Mission Statement: • To be a leading sociology journal in terms of academic substance, scholarly reputation , with relevance to and impact on the social and democratic questions of our times • To publish papers demonstrating the highest standards of scholarship in sociology from authors worldwide; • To carry papers from across the full range of sociological research and knowledge • To lead debate on key methodological and theoretical questions and controversies in contemporary sociology, for example through the annual lecture special issue • To highlight new areas of sociological research, new developments in sociological theory, and new methodological innovations, for example through timely special sections and special issues • To react quickly to major publishing and/or world events by producing special issues and/or sections • To publish the best work from scholars in new and emerging regions where sociology is developing • To encourage new and aspiring sociologists to submit papers to the journal, and to spotlight their work through the early career prize • To engage with the sociological community – academics as well as students – in the UK and abroad, through social media, and a journal blog.
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