Michel Foucault and International Relations: Cannibal Relations

Abstract

Historically, political science and International Relations have been differentiated through the study of “domestic” government and “international” government, respectively. Yet, Foucault never took part or was even really interested in this division; this chapter contends that he has been a “politist” and an “internationalist,” of a different kind. The first part of this chapter shows that the intensity and importance of Foucault’s lessons have left traces in IR until today despite the reciprocal indifference between Foucault and the political scientists of his time. The second part comes back to the discussion about war and develops on why the conception of war Foucault proposed could be a way to escape today’s false debates around war, terrorism and radicalization. By proposing different “tools to think,” his work de facto cannibalized political science and IR by “devouring” their topics when questioning sovereignty, territory, population and the essence of the state as an “actor.” Foucault challenged and reformulated narratives without even discussing their “theories” or using their examples, just by showing how to think differently about power and subjectivation.