Foucault's contributions for understanding power relations in British classical political economy

Guizzo, Danielle; de Lima, Iara Vigo

Abstract

© 2015 National Association of Postgraduate Centers in Economics, ANPEC This paper analyzes the strategic role played by British classical political economy in constructing new technologies of power. Michel Foucault drew attention to a change that political economists promoted concerning the role of the state, which has been overlooked by historians of economic thought. This paper explores the main arguments provided by the most important British political economists of the 18th and 19th centuries on what concerns population management, State's role and economic dynamics in order to examine Foucault's considerations. Although British classical political economy consolidated the mechanism of markets and economic individuality, thus creating a system of truth that changed economic norms and practices, its discourse also established a political conduct that was responsible for creating mechanisms of control that disseminated new forms of power relations.

Citation

Guizzo, D., & de Lima, I. V. (2015). Foucault's contributions for understanding power relations in British classical political economy. EconomiA, 16(2), 194-205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econ.2015.06.002

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 20, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Jul 8, 2015
• Publication Date: May 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Feb 2, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 2, 2017
• Journal: EconomiA
• Print ISSN: 1517-7580
• Electronic ISSN: 2358-2820
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 16
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 194-205
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econ.2015.06.002
• Keywords: British classical political economy, genealogy of power, liberal art of government, biopolitics
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/842287
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.econ.2015.06.002