Who the hell is Michel Foucault?

A philosopher, social theorist, historian and literary critic, Michel Foucault is one of the most influential scholars of his time. Focusing primarily on the relationship between knowledge and power, he looked at how power is used in our society to control and define knowledge. Who the Hell is Michel Foucault? looks at who this brilliant and controversial thinker was as a person, and who influenced him along the way, before really getting to grips with what his original and often complicated ideas are really all about.

Chapter 1: Foucault''s Life Story

Chapter 2: Influences on Foucault''s Thinking

Chapter 3: Archaeology of the Human Sciences

This chapter delves into the key ideas behind Foucault''s ''archaeological'' method that he used in his approach to the history of thought.

Chapter 4: Technologies of Power

This chapter focuses on Foucault''s analysis of power in all their forms: Sovereign, Disciplinary, and Biopower.

Chapter 5: Practices of the Self

The final chapter looks at Foucault''s theory on the quest to find the true self, which he sees as being on two different levels: the passive self that is searched for; and the active self which becomes the searcher.