The Practical Theorizing of Michel Foucault: Politics and Counter-Discourse

XM7 ichel Foucault has often been criticized for producing radical political analyses with little practical value. So many writers have assailed him on this score that Foucault now seems distinctive for what he lacks. He has, for example, been criticized for lacking a theory of agency, a theory that would somehow encourage revolutionary political action; for lacking a normative justification of the exercise of power, an alternative to the liberal framework; for lacking a sense of history as progressive, as more than an endless story of oppression; and for lacking a notion of freedom, a notion that might inspire other radical theorists.' From our point of view, however, these criticisms ignore a continuous practical and positive thrust in his work, from the early history of madness to the studies of ancient sexual practices (see Moussa Foucault). Admittedly, the characterization of Foucault as a practical philosopher-rather than the nihilistic, dizzyingly abstract theorist he is typically ac-