Structuralism, post-structuralism, neo-liberalism: Assessing Foucault's legacy

Abstract

This article traces Foucault's distinctive commitment to 'post-structuralism' through tracing the affinities and departures from structuralism. It is argued that under the infuence of Nietzsche, Foucault's approach marks a distinct break with structuralism in several crucial respects. What results is a materialist post-structuralism which is also distinctively different from the post-structuralism of writers such as Derrida, Lyotard and Baudrilliard. Foucault's account of neo-liberalism as an historically formed discourse is presented as an example of materialist post-structuralist analysis.