Security, Territory, Population: Lectures at the Collège de France 1977--1978: 6 (Michel Foucault Lectures at the Collège de France, 6)

Not capable enough to comment on Foucault ..but the paper quality and binding is good;)

Excellent

'Security, Territory, Population' is perhaps the most famous of Foucault's lecture series from his time as Chair of History of Systems of Thought at the College de France. Following on from 'Society Must be Defended', the first three lectures of STP elaborate on the concept of biopower, first introduced in 'History of Sexuality: Vol 1'. Lecture four marks a shift, however, with the exploration of the Christian pastorate and its role in governing the conduct of men, leading Foucault to introduce arguably his most widely utilised concept; governmentality. Foucault demonstrates mastery of a breath-taking range of source material for these lectures, tracing multiple strands of the rise of modern rationality of government, including the problem of population and the development and transformation of the Christian pastorate.The wonderful thing about these transcribed lectures is the amount of legwork that has gone into supplying extra information through footnotes and endnotes, clarifying seemingly off-the-cuff remarks Foucault makes, which often relate to works of other great thinkers. This is perhaps a bit too advanced for a total beginner when it comes to Foucault, and I would therefore recommend those unfamiliar with his work to begin with Discipline and Punish or History of Sexuality Vol 1; they are by far his most readable works.

The manuscript is in perfect conditions and it has arrived as foreseen

It looked like a photocopy with the pages cut unevenly, but hey... It was cheap so who cares. . .

With the publication of these lectures, we are given a special privilege to fully understand a fundamental transition in Foucault's political thought, where he integrated questions of discipline and biopower into a larger analytic about the political rationality of a state formation. He coined this tool of study "governmentality" and used it to trace a genealogy of Western liberal politics, going back to earlier forms of Christian pastoral power, through the rise of nation-states up through the Enlightenment. Along the way, he discusses more day to day political functions that work into this framework, such as police power, the management of goods and resources in a society and the distribution of wealth. Some of these analyses are uneven and certain pathways are left unexplored, as should be expected as this is a lecture course of research material in their rough stages, not a published book. Nevertheless, they provide a set of powerful suggestions for further research and analysis. Governmentality studies has been a thriving field for the past 25 years yet much of it seems to have been based on a single lecture from this course that was the only thing available for a long time. This lecture course provides a full picture of what Foucault had in mind by governmentality and has been useful I'm sure in revising and correcting a lot of preconceptions about his formulation of this concept in the existing literature. No one can fully grasp Foucault's political thought without reading this. Be sure to read this course along with its successor - The Birth of Biopolitics, where he continues his study of governmentality in relation to the economy, providing a fascinating study of neoliberal trends that foreshadow much of what would come during the 80's and after.

I'm not talking about the contents of the book... as that is subjective and really, if you're gonna read Foucault you already made up your mind. About the content I will just say this: It's still holding up after many years and a clear advance from Discipline and Punish. If you're into studying security, this will go a long way. But I wanted to talk about the book format. I purchased the hardcover version and paper is nice and thick, font size is excellent, book is a little compact (I had read the spanish edition from Fondo de Cultura Economica and it was huge, about twice the size) but I actually prefer it that way. It's one of those hardcovers with the picture printed on the cover itself, so no dust jacket. To some that is good. In this edition, the printing looks and feels a little cheap and flimsy, but with a little care it will go a long way. Oh and the binding is top notch. Recommended if you're looking for a nice book to keep.