Focault on Capitalism
Akith Dissanayake, Sociology 334, 1
Foucault on Capitalism
Sociology 334 Akith Dissanayake 1231501
Akith Dissanayake, Sociology 334, 2
Foucault’s conception of capitalism and its rationality are understood through the double
character of freedom. Foucault’s analysis lies in his realization that capitalism manages individuals and populations through freedom and not through repression. Freedom is the condition that allows the correlation between what Foucault terms as the accumulation of men and the accumulation of capital. Foucault investigates the meaning and conditions of capitalism through three perspectives. Firstly, Capitalism is a political order, which accumulates individuals and populations in a certain manner, which Foucault terms the regime of the accumulation of men. Secondly, Foucault understands capitalism to mean an economic system that is geared towards the accumulation of wealth, which he refers to as the regime of the accumulation of capital. Thirdly, capitalism is an order that combines the two regimes, accumulation of men and the accumulation of capital. Therefore, capitalism is not just a political or an economic system, it is primordial and is the condition of the possibility of both. However, individuals understand particulars about capitalism only in the context of a whole totality. The totality does not reveal itself to us directly as “it remains implicit and requires a special effort to make it explicit.”(Brandom 2000:23). Such totality could be made explicit through the approach of
particulars with this specific purpose. As Foucault states, “the techniques that made the cumulative multiplicity of men useful accelerated the accumulation of capital. Each makes the other possible and necessary; each provides a model for the other”(Rizvi 2006:24). By concentrating on the accumulation of men, the accumulation of capital, or both, with the purpose of making them explicit individuals can make capitalism as a whole
Foucault on Capitalism
Sociology 334 Akith Dissanayake 1231501
Akith Dissanayake, Sociology 334, 2
Foucault’s conception of capitalism and its rationality are understood through the double
character of freedom. Foucault’s analysis lies in his realization that capitalism manages individuals and populations through freedom and not through repression. Freedom is the condition that allows the correlation between what Foucault terms as the accumulation of men and the accumulation of capital. Foucault investigates the meaning and conditions of capitalism through three perspectives. Firstly, Capitalism is a political order, which accumulates individuals and populations in a certain manner, which Foucault terms the regime of the accumulation of men. Secondly, Foucault understands capitalism to mean an economic system that is geared towards the accumulation of wealth, which he refers to as the regime of the accumulation of capital. Thirdly, capitalism is an order that combines the two regimes, accumulation of men and the accumulation of capital. Therefore, capitalism is not just a political or an economic system, it is primordial and is the condition of the possibility of both. However, individuals understand particulars about capitalism only in the context of a whole totality. The totality does not reveal itself to us directly as “it remains implicit and requires a special effort to make it explicit.”(Brandom 2000:23). Such totality could be made explicit through the approach of
particulars with this specific purpose. As Foucault states, “the techniques that made the cumulative multiplicity of men useful accelerated the accumulation of capital. Each makes the other possible and necessary; each provides a model for the other”(Rizvi 2006:24). By concentrating on the accumulation of men, the accumulation of capital, or both, with the purpose of making them explicit individuals can make capitalism as a whole