Objects without Origins: Foucault in South African Socio-Medical Science

Despite being freely available in English language translation since the late 1970s, the writings of Michel Foucault have only faintly imprinted themselves within the work of South African socio-medical scientists. Where references to Foucault do stray beyond mere name dropping, they frequently distort the lines of his thought by pressing it into precisely the liberal-humanist and Marxist analyses Foucault himself was so concerned to dispel. How is this possible, and what is being done by this failure to accurately understand and apply Foucault? Deploying a Foucaultian methodology of strategic questioning, this paper explores the phenomenon to conclude that the failure of Foucault in South African socio-medical discourse is only apparent, the very impermeability of these disciplines to his ideas itself confirmation for the Foucaultian thesis that while sovereignty is the preserve of an elite, discipline is within the grasp of us all.