Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures in Volume I
- Contributors to Volume I
- Editors’ Preface to the Series
- 1 The History of the History of Sexuality
- 2 The History of Sexuality and Anthropology
- 3 The History of Sexuality and Women’s History
- 4 The History of Sexuality and LGBTQ+ History
- 5 The Impact of Sigmund Freud on the History of Sexuality
- 6 Michel Foucault’s Influence on the History of Sexuality
- 7 Queer Theory and the History of Sexuality
- 8 The Sexual Body in History
- 9 Marriage and Families in the History of Sexuality
- 10 Class in the History of Sexuality
- 11 Sexuality and Race: Representations, Regulations, and Sentiments
- 12 Male Homoerotic Relations in History
- 13 Desire, Love, and Sex between Women in Global History
- 14 Trans and Gender Variant Sexualities in History
- 15 The Sale of Sex in History
- 16 Sexual Violence in History
- 17 Sexual Science in History
- 18 Sexuality and Emotion
- 19 Erotic Art in World History
- 20 Erotic Literature in History
- 21 The Material Culture of the History of Sexuality
- 22 Public History and Sexuality
- Index
- CONTENTS TO VOLUMES II, III, AND IV
- References
6 - Michel Foucault’s Influence on the History of Sexuality
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 26 April 2024
Book contents
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures in Volume I
- Contributors to Volume I
- Editors’ Preface to the Series
- 1 The History of the History of Sexuality
- 2 The History of Sexuality and Anthropology
- 3 The History of Sexuality and Women’s History
- 4 The History of Sexuality and LGBTQ+ History
- 5 The Impact of Sigmund Freud on the History of Sexuality
- 6 Michel Foucault’s Influence on the History of Sexuality
- 7 Queer Theory and the History of Sexuality
- 8 The Sexual Body in History
- 9 Marriage and Families in the History of Sexuality
- 10 Class in the History of Sexuality
- 11 Sexuality and Race: Representations, Regulations, and Sentiments
- 12 Male Homoerotic Relations in History
- 13 Desire, Love, and Sex between Women in Global History
- 14 Trans and Gender Variant Sexualities in History
- 15 The Sale of Sex in History
- 16 Sexual Violence in History
- 17 Sexual Science in History
- 18 Sexuality and Emotion
- 19 Erotic Art in World History
- 20 Erotic Literature in History
- 21 The Material Culture of the History of Sexuality
- 22 Public History and Sexuality
- Index
- CONTENTS TO VOLUMES II, III, AND IV
- References
Summary
This chapter explores Michel Foucault’s impact on the history of sexuality by emphasizing the disparate and evolving nature of his work and its often-controversial influence on the history of sexuality as a field. The essay begins by summarizing the arguments of the four volumes of Foucault’s History of Sexuality, while recalling the project’s turbulent history. The first volume maintained that sexuality’s history in the West was characterized by an “incitement to discourse” (rather than repression) which sealed the “Faustian pact” between sexuality and the pursuit of truth, while also drawing sexuality into power relations. Yet Foucault’s interest in early Christian sexual practices led him to reorient his project towards an exploration of classical antiquity and the role played by sexuality in practices of subjectivity. The essay’s second part examines how historians of sexuality have drawn on Foucault’s insights, focusing on the divergences between historians influenced by Foucault’s first volume (dealing with knowledge and power) and those inspired by the latter volumes (prioritizing subjectivity). After examining Foucault’s impact on feminism and queer theory, the essay concludes by noting that many historians of sexuality have made productive use of Foucault’s work without concurring with his philosophical conclusions.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge World History of Sexualities , pp. 112 - 136Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024
References
Further Reading
Butler, Judith. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York: Routledge, 1990.Google Scholar
Cohen, David, and Saller, Richard. ‘Foucault on Sexuality in Greco-Roman Antiquity’. In Foucault and the Writing of History, ed. Goldstein, Jan, 35–59. Oxford: Blackwell, 1994.Google Scholar
Corbin, Alain. Les filles de noce: Misère sexuelle et prostitution (19e siècle), 2nd ed. Paris: Flammarion, 1982.Google Scholar
Davidson, Arnold. ‘Ethics as Ascetics: Foucault, the History of Ethics, and Ancient Thought’. In Foucault and the Writing of History, ed. Goldstein, Jan, 63–80. Oxford: Blackwell, 1994.Google Scholar
Duggan, Lisa. ‘The Discipline Problem: Queer Theory Meets Lesbian and Gay History’. GLQ: A Journal of Lesbian and Gay Studies 2, no. 3 (1995): 179–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duggan, Lisa Sapphic Slashers: Sex, Violence, and American Modernity. Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2000.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel Histoire de la sexualité. Vol. 1: La volonté de savoir. Paris: Gallimard, 1976.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel Histoire de la sexualité. Vol. 2: L’usage des plaisirs. Paris: Gallimard, 1984.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel Histoire de la sexualité. Vol. 3: Le souci de soi. Paris: Gallimard, 1984.Google Scholar
Foucault, Michel Histoire de la sexualité. Vol. 4: Les aveux de la chair. Paris: Gallimard, 2018.Google Scholar
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