Foucault, neoliberal governmentality, and subjectivation

Abstract

This article aims to understand Foucault's theoretical and political positions, which were built from 1978 on, with the establishment of governmentality and subjectivity notions as an axis of his researches. It discusses historical aspects that are related to his theoretical shift into government's subject, biographical sources, and author texts, which were published between 1978 and 1980. Second, it analyzes an interview about the crisis of the social security system, seeking to understand his position about the issue. It concludes that Foucault used both Marxist and neoliberal contributions, avoiding to reduce politics into a confrontation between the two projects, but considering it as a complex field of plural strategies. The subjectivity places at the interface between politics and ethics.