Governmentality free essay sample

The notion of governmentality gained attention in the English-speaking academic world mainly through the book The Foucault Effect by Graham Burchell (1991). Hunt and Wickham defined governmentality in Foucault and Law (1994) as â€Å"the dramatic expansion in the scope of government, featuring an increase in the number and size of the governmental calculation mechanisms† (Hunt 76), closely linking the creation and growth of the modern bureaucracies in the mid-eighteenth century. Mitchell Dean’s understanding of the term incorporates both other forms of governance and the idea of mentalities of government by addressing the ideas of â€Å"collective activity,† â€Å"technologies of power,† and the reflexive nature of governmentality (Dean 16). He expands on Hunt and Wickham’s approach by defining the term as â€Å"how we think about governing others and ourselves in a wide variety of contexts (Dean 212). This reflects that the term government to Foucault meant not so much the political or administrative structures of the modern state as the way in which the conduct of individuals or of groups may be directed. We will write a custom essay sample on Governmentality or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Works Cited Burchell, Graham. The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality. Chicago, IL: University Of Chicago Press, 1991. Dean, M. Governmentality: Power and Rule in Modern Society. London: Sage, 1991. Foucault, M. Governmentality, trans. Rosi Braidotti and revised by Colin Gordon, in Graham Burchell, Colin Gordon and Peter Miller (eds) The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality, pp. 87-104. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1991. Hunt, H. Wickham, G. (1994) Foucault and Law. London. Pluto Press.