About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherOxford University Press, Incorporated

ISBN-100195093712

ISBN-139780195093711

eBay Product ID (ePID)64479

Product Key Features

Book TitleSaint Foucault : Towards a Gay Hagiography

Number of Pages256 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicLgbt Studies / General, History & Surveys / Modern, Lgbt Studies / Gay Studies, Semiotics & Theory, Movements / Structuralism

Publication Year1995

IllustratorYes

GenreLiterary Criticism, Philosophy, Social Science

AuthorDavid M. Halperin

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height1 in

Item Weight16.2 Oz

Item Length8.5 in

Item Width5.8 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN94-041136

Reviews"Without even setting out to do so, David Halperin has provided the mostlucid explication of the later work of Foucault that I've read. As if this werenot rebuke enough to those who have got it all wrong, Halperin goes on todemolish, point by point, those liberal critics and biographers who would makeof Foucault that object of their homophobic knowingness. For all of that, thebook's real utility resides in something more: its extraordinarily abledemonstration of the ways that Foucault's strategies of resistance are enactedin queer political and cultural practices."--Douglas Crimp, author of On theMuseum's Ruins and co-author of AIDS Demo Graphics, "Foucault, the worm having turned, needs defenders these days, and Halperin fills the position well, arguing that Foucault provides the radical gay movement with both the philosophical underpinnings and political means with which to resist suppression by mainstream culture."--The Los Angeles TimesBook Review "Saint Foucaultis not only the most stimulating analysis to date of 'the Foucault effect': it is a major contribution in its own right to the political effect of Foucault's work. It is required reading for everyone interested in Foucault's thought, in philosophical thought and contemporary politics, as well as everyone interested in Queer Theory and in the ongoing controversies and struggles of the gay movement."--Didier Eribon, author ofMichel FoucaultandMichel Foucault et ses contemporains "Without even setting out to do so, David Halperin has provided the most lucid explication of the later work of Foucault that I've read. As if this were not rebuke enough to those who have got it all wrong, Halperin goes on to demolish, point by point, those liberal critics and biographers who would make of Foucault that object of their homophobic knowingness. For all of that, the book's real utility resides in something more: its extraordinarily able demonstration of the ways that Foucault's strategies of resistance are enacted in queer political and cultural practices."--Douglas Crimp, author ofOn the Museum's Ruinsand co-author ofAIDS Demo Graphics "Bracingly clear-headed and endlessly smart, David Halperin's new book commands attention.Saint Foucaultrepresents a major contribution to the philosophy of sexuality and a magisterial introduction to one of the twentieth century's most important thinkers. Unafraid to take real intellectual risks, Halperin delivers Foucault at last from the pedants and the purists, the doubters and the debunkers. A sage, searching, and sensible book."--Diana Fuss, Department of English, Princeton University and author ofIdentification Papers "For those concerned with the thought of Foucault and the politics of gayness, an absolutely necessary book."--Kirkus Reviews, "Saint Foucault seeks to rescue Foucault from his critics and to portrayhim as a model of an engaged gay life, and attempt that requires a certainintellectual sleight of hand and close reading of the sort Halperin excels at.The book is remarkably engaging combining elements of both brilliance andsilliness."--Arena Magazine, "Foucault, the worm having turned, needs defenders these days, and Halperin fills the position well, arguing that Foucault provides the radical gay movement with both the philosophical underpinnings and political means with which to resist suppression by mainstream culture."--The Los Angeles Times Book Review "Saint Foucault is not only the most stimulating analysis to date of 'the Foucault effect': it is a major contribution in its own right to the political effect of Foucault's work. It is required reading for everyone interested in Foucault's thought, in philosophical thought and contemporary politics, as well as everyone interested in Queer Theory and in the ongoing controversies and struggles of the gay movement."--Didier Eribon, author of Michel Foucault and Michel Foucault et ses contemporains "Without even setting out to do so, David Halperin has provided the most lucid explication of the later work of Foucault that I've read. As if this were not rebuke enough to those who have got it all wrong, Halperin goes on to demolish, point by point, those liberal critics and biographers who would make of Foucault that object of their homophobic knowingness. For all of that, the book's real utility resides in something more: its extraordinarily able demonstration of the ways that Foucault's strategies of resistance are enacted in queer political and cultural practices."--Douglas Crimp, author of On the Museum's Ruins and co-author of AIDS Demo Graphics "Bracingly clear-headed and endlessly smart, David Halperin's new book commands attention. Saint Foucault represents a major contribution to the philosophy of sexuality and a magisterial introduction to one of the twentieth century's most important thinkers. Unafraid to take real intellectual risks, Halperin delivers Foucault at last from the pedants and the purists, the doubters and the debunkers. A sage, searching, and sensible book."--Diana Fuss, Department of English, Princeton University and author of Identification Papers "For those concerned with the thought of Foucault and the politics of gayness, an absolutely necessary book."--Kirkus Reviews, "Bracingly clear-headed and endlessly smart, David Halperin's new bookcommands attention. Saint Foucault represents a major contribution to thephilosophy of sexuality and a magisterial introduction to one of the twentiethcentury's most important thinkers. Unafraid to take real intellectual risks,Halperin delivers Foucault at last from the pedants and the purists, thedoubters and the debunkers. A sage, searching, and sensible book."--Diana Fuss,Department of English, Princeton University and author of IdentificationPapers, "Foucault, the worm having turned, needs defenders these days, and Halperin fills the position well, arguing that Foucault provides the radical gay movement with both the philosophical underpinnings and political means with which to resist suppression by mainstream culture."-- The Los Angeles Times Book Review " Saint Foucault is not only the most stimulating analysis to date of 'the Foucault effect': it is a major contribution in its own right to the political effect of Foucault's work. It is required reading for everyone interested in Foucault's thought, in philosophical thought and contemporary politics, as well as everyone interested in Queer Theory and in the ongoing controversies and struggles of the gay movement."--Didier Eribon, author of Michel Foucault and Michel Foucault et ses contemporains "Without even setting out to do so, David Halperin has provided the most lucid explication of the later work of Foucault that I've read. As if this were not rebuke enough to those who have got it all wrong, Halperin goes on to demolish, point by point, those liberal critics and biographers who would make of Foucault that object of their homophobic knowingness. For all of that, the book's real utility resides in something more: its extraordinarily able demonstration of the ways that Foucault's strategies of resistance are enacted in queer political and cultural practices."--Douglas Crimp, author of On the Museum's Ruins and co-author of AIDS Demo Graphics "Bracingly clear-headed and endlessly smart, David Halperin's new book commands attention. Saint Foucault represents a major contribution to the philosophy of sexuality and a magisterial introduction to one of the twentieth century's most important thinkers. Unafraid to take real intellectual risks, Halperin delivers Foucault at last from the pedants and the purists, the doubters and the debunkers. A sage, searching, and sensible book."--Diana Fuss, Department of English, Princeton University and author of Identification Papers "For those concerned with the thought of Foucault and the politics of gayness, an absolutely necessary book."-- Kirkus Reviews, "Foucault, the worm having turned, needs defenders these days, andHalperin fills the position well, arguing that Foucault provides the radical gaymovement with both the philosophical underpinnings and political means withwhich to resist suppression by mainstream culture."--The Los Angeles Times BookReview, "Saint Foucault is not only the most stimulating analysis to date of 'theFoucault effect': it is a major contribution in its own right to the politicaleffect of Foucault's work. It is required reading for everyone interested inFoucault's thought, in philosophical thought and contemporary politics, as wellas everyone interested in Queer Theory and in the ongoing controversies andstruggles of the gay movement."--Didier Eribon, author of Michel Foucault andMichel Foucault et ses contemporains, "Halperin's book...stands as a moment in the continuing dialog among somescholars and some gay activists about the meaning of Foucault's personal life,including his philosophy."--Library Journal, "Foucault, the worm having turned, needs defenders these days, and Halperin fills the position well, arguing that Foucault provides the radical gay movement with both the philosophical underpinnings and political means with which to resist suppression by mainstream culture."--The Los Angeles Times Book Review"Saint Foucault is not only the most stimulating analysis to date of 'the Foucault effect': it is a major contribution in its own right to the political effect of Foucault's work. It is required reading for everyone interested in Foucault's thought, in philosophical thought and contemporary politics, as well as everyone interested in Queer Theory and in the ongoing controversies and struggles of the gay movement."--Didier Eribon, author of Michel Foucault and Michel Foucault et ses contemporains"Without even setting out to do so, David Halperin has provided the most lucid explication of the later work of Foucault that I've read. As if this were not rebuke enough to those who have got it all wrong, Halperin goes on to demolish, point by point, those liberal critics and biographers who would make of Foucault that object of their homophobic knowingness. For all of that, the book's real utility resides in something more: its extraordinarily able demonstration of the ways that Foucault's strategies of resistance are enacted in queer political and cultural practices."--Douglas Crimp, author of On the Museum's Ruins and co-author of AIDS Demo Graphics"Bracingly clear-headed and endlessly smart, David Halperin's new book commands attention. Saint Foucault represents a major contribution to the philosophy of sexuality and a magisterial introduction to one of the twentieth century's most important thinkers. Unafraid to take real intellectual risks, Halperin delivers Foucault at last from the pedants and the purists, the doubters and the debunkers. A sage, searching, and sensible book."--Diana Fuss, Department of English, Princeton University and author of Identification Papers"For those concerned with the thought of Foucault and the politics of gayness, an absolutely necessary book."--Kirkus Reviews, "A demanding, eloquent and caustic book. Halperin offers close readings ofFoucault's thought, forging a link between menucharacterization of politicalresistance as a creative process and gay politics."--Publishers Weekly, "For those concerned with the thought of Foucault and the politics ofgayness, an absolutely necessary book."--Kirkus Reviews

Dewey Edition20

Dewey Decimal306.76/6

Synopsis"My work has had nothing to do with gay liberation," Michel Foucault reportedly told an admirer in 1975. And indeed there is scarcely more than a passing mention of homosexuality in Foucault's scholarly writings. So why has Foucault, who died of AIDS in 1984, become a powerful source of both personal and political inspiration to an entire generation of gay activists? And why have his political philosophy and his personal life recently come under such withering, normalizing scrutiny by commentators as diverse as Camille Paglia, Richard Mohr, Bruce Bawer, Roger Kimball, and biographer James Miller? David M. Halperin's Saint Foucault is an uncompromising and impassioned defense of the late French philosopher and historian as a galvanizing thinker whose career as a theorist and activist will continue to serve as a model for other gay intellectuals, activists, and scholars. A close reading of both Foucault and the increasing attacks on his life and work, it explains why straight liberals so often find in Foucault only counsels of despair on the subject of politics, whereas gay activists look to him not only for intellectual inspiration but also for a compelling example of political resistance. Halperin rescues Foucault from the endless nature-versus-nurture debate over the origins of homosexuality ("On this question I have absolutely nothing to say," Foucault himself once remarked) and argues that Foucault's decision to treat sexuality not as a biological or psychological drive but as an effect of discourse, as the product of modern systems of knowledge and power, represents a crucial political breakthrough for lesbians and gay men. Halperin explains how Foucault's radical vision of homosexuality as a strategic opportunity for self-transformation anticipated the new anti-assimilationist, anti-essentialist brand of sexual identity politics practiced by contemporary direct-action groups such as ACT UP. Halperin also offers the first synthetic account of Foucault's thinking about gay sex and the future of the lesbian and gay movement, as well as an up-to-the-minute summary of the most recent work in queer theory. "Where there is power, there is resistance," Michel Foucault wrote in The History of Sexuality, Volume I. Erudite, biting, and surprisingly moving, Saint Foucault represents Halperin's own resistance to what he views as the blatant and systematic misrepresentation of a crucial intellectual figure, a misrepresentation he sees as dramatic evidence of the continuing personal, professional, and scholarly vulnerability of all gay activists and intellectuals in the age of AIDS., Although there is scarcely more than a passing mention of homosexuality in Michel Foucault's scholarly writing he became, after dying of AIDS in 1984, a powerful source of both personal and political inspiration to an entire generation of gay activists. As such, he has acquired mainstream detractors who have systematically distorted and misrepresented this crucial intellectual figure. David M. Halperin's Saint Foucault is an uncompromising and impassioned defense of the late French philosopher and historian. Despite his statement that his work "had nothing to do with gay liberation," it portrays Foucault as a galvanizing thinker whose career as a theorist and activist will continue to serve as a model for other gay intellectuals. Halperin argues that his decision to treat sexuality not as a bilogical or psychological drive but as the product of mern systems of knowledge and power, represents a crucial political breakthrough for lesbians and gay men. foucault's radical vision of homosexuality as a strategic opportuinty for self-transformation is shown to have anticipated the new brand of sexual identity politics practiced by contemporary action groups such as ACT UP. Pointing to the withering scrutiny of such commentators as Camille Paglia, Richard Mohr, Bruce Bawer, Roger Kimball, and biographer James Miller, Saint Foucault forcefully illustrates the continuing personal, professional, and scholarly vulnerability of all gay activists and intellectuals in the age of AIDS., "My work has had nothing to do with gay liberation," Michel Foucault reportedly told an admirer in 1975. And indeed there is scarcely more than a passing mention of homosexuality in Foucault's scholarly writings. So why has Foucault, who died of AIDS in 1984, become a powerful source of both personal and political inspiration to an entire generation of gay activists? And why have his political philosophy and his personal life recently come under such withering, normalizing scrutiny by commentators as diverse as Camille Paglia, Richard Mohr, Bruce Bawer, Roger Kimball, and biographer James Miller? David M. Halperin's Saint Foucault is an uncompromising and impassioned defense of the late French philosopher and historian as a galvanizing thinker whose career as a theorist and activist will continue to serve as a model for other gay intellectuals, activists, and scholars. A close reading of both Foucault and the increasing attacks on his life and work, it explains why straight liberals so often find in Foucault only counsels of despair on the subject of politics, whereas gay activists look to him not only for intellectual inspiration but also for a compelling example of political resistance. Halperin rescues Foucault from the endless nature-versus-nurture debate over the origins of homosexuality ("On this question I have absolutely nothing to say," Foucault himself once remarked) and argues that Foucault's decision to treat sexuality not as a biological or psychological drive but as an effect of discourse, as the product of modern systems of knowledge and power, represents a crucial political breakthrough for lesbians and gay men. Halperin explains how Foucault's radical vision of homosexuality as a strategic opportunity for self-transformation anticipated the new anti-assimilationist, anti-essentialist brand of sexual identity politics practiced by contemporary direct-action groups such as ACT UP. Halperin also offers the first synthetic account of Foucault's thinking about gay sex and the future of the lesbian and gay movement, as well as an up-to-the-minute summary of the most recent work in queer theory. "Where there is power, there is resistance," Michel Foucault wrote in The History of Sexuality, Volume I . Erudite, biting, and surprisingly moving, Saint Foucault represents Halperin's own resistance to what he views as the blatant and systematic misrepresentation of a crucial intellectual figure, a misrepresentation he sees as dramatic evidence of the continuing personal, professional, and scholarly vulnerability of all gay activists and intellectuals in the age of AIDS., The acclaimed author of One Hundred Years of Homosexuality offers an uncompromising and impassioned defense of the late French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault as a galvanizing thinker whose career as a theorist and activist will continue to serve as a model for other gay intellectuals, activists, and scholars. Illustrations.

LC Classification NumberHQ76.5.H35 1995