The Learning Society and Governmentality: An introduction

Abstract

This paper presents an overview of the elements which characterize a research attitude and approach introduced by Michel Foucault and further developed as ‘studies of governmentality’ into a sub‐discipline of the humanities during the past decade, including also applications in the field of education. The paper recalls Foucault's introduction of the notion of ‘governmentality’ and its relation to the ‘mapping of the present’ and sketches briefly the way in which the studies of governmentality have been elaborated in general and in the context of research in education more particularly. It indicates how the studies of governmentality can be related to a cartography of the learning society, a cartography which helps us to get lost and to liberate our view.

From Talloires to Turin: A Critical Discourse Analysis of Declarations for Sustainability in Higher Education

“…Furthermore, the notion of a learning society works to develop the discourse of the individualization of the responsibility for education, which is now framed as education for the participation in an ever-changing global marketplace, all the while absolving any responsibility on the part of the State for the provision of education. Moreover, this translates into an erosion of workers' rights, where adaptability becomes a key component of human capital and is the responsibility of the individual [40]. In other words, the individual becomes an entrepreneur of the self, subject to perpetual economic tribunal, which constitutes the dissolution of separation between the social and the economic spheres [40].…”

Acts of Negotiation: Governmentality and Medium of Instruction in an Eastern Ukrainian University

“…From the 16 th to 18 th centuries, this sovereign governance gave way to a more complex "art" of government, a "complex composed of man and things" (Foucault 2000, in Inda 2005. On this basis, Goddard (2010) as well as Simons and Masschelein (2006) argue that the concept of sovereignty is not applicable to studies of present-day government. Dean (2010, 30) concurs, noting that "rather than replacing discipline or sovereignty, the modern art of government recasts them within this concern for the population and its optimization.…”

“…Dean (2010, 35), drawing on the work of Foucault, uses the term sovereignty to describe an institution's basis of authority or right to lawmaking, as well as the "consent and obedience of the governed." As other scholars have pointed out, however, in Foucault's original framework, sovereignty referred to the theological basis for Machavellian princes to rule a state (Goddard 2010;Inda 2005;Simons and Masschelein 2006) as well as sovereign powers' "self-preservation through the force of law" (Inda 2005, 3). From the 16 th to 18 th centuries, this sovereign governance gave way to a more complex "art" of government, a "complex composed of man and things" (Foucault 2000, in Inda 2005.…”

“…Foucault (2006, 132) defined governmentality as a way to understand problems such as "how to be ruled, how strictly, by whom, to what end, [and] by what methods." Recent scholars applying governmentality theory in anthropology and education research have focused on the formation of subjects (i.e., people) through state and institutional techniques or technologies of governmentality (e.g., Chee 2012;Inda 2005;Popkewitz et al 2006;Simons and Masschelein 2006;Wright and Rabo 2010). While some scholars acknowledge a distinct focus on "advanced" neoliberal democracies (Dean 2010;Rose 2006), most studies seem to take for granted that the government has techniques or technologies of governance at its disposal; it is simply up to the researcher to identify the types of techniques and how they operate.…”

Standardising Europe: The Bologna Process and new modes of governing

“…We can see how others have used a Foucauldian analysis to study higher education specifically, for example, quality assurance systems in higher education (Luke 1997) and neo-liberal governance of higher education institutions (Marginson 1997 Recently, there have been Foucault-inspired analyses of European approaches to higher education, lifelong learning and the governing of the subject (Fejes & Nicoll 2008;Fejes forthcoming). In a special issue of Educational Philosophy and Theory, the learning society is analysed by different authors drawing on Foucault and his concept of governmentality (Simons & Masschelein 2006). For example, Tuschling and Engemann (2006) analyse the discourse of lifelong learning in European higher education policy.…”