Michel Foucault, l'anthropologie et la question du pouvoir

Abstract

On both sides of the Atlantic, anthropologists have received Michel Foucault's work quite differently. Whereas American anthropology has enthusiastically accepted the philosopher's thoughts about the relations between power and knowledge, and his conceptualization of "biopolitics", French anthropologists have, for a long time now, been more reluctant, even wary of this thinker. Foucault's work contains very few references to anthropology, and his point of view about structural anthropology was extremely critical. This article, which focuses on the question of power, where Foucault's influence on new trends in anthropology is especially evident, is part of a broader inquiry into the relations between philosophy and anthropology.