Geoff Shullenberger: Foucault in America

In this seminal work, Richard Hofstadter explores the concept of the 'paranoid style' in American politics, which he defines as a way of seeing and doing politics characterized by heated exaggeration, suspiciousness, and conspiratorial fantasy. The book, which includes the titular essay first published in Harper's Magazine in 1964, delves into historical examples such as the Anti-Masonic Movement, Father Coughlin's antisemitic conspiracies, and the post-McCarthy Right. Hofstadter argues that this style is not exclusive to any one side of the political spectrum and has been a recurring theme throughout American history, influencing political discourse and the behavior of individuals and groups. The book also includes other essays on topics like 'Free Silver and the Mind of 'Coin' Harvey' and 'What Happened to the Antitrust Movement?'[2][4][5]

In 'Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life,' Giorgio Agamben delves into the concept of sovereignty and its intrinsic connection to the idea of 'bare life.' He argues that from the earliest treatises of political theory, notably in Aristotle's notion of man as a political animal, a notion of sovereignty as power over 'life' is implicit. Agamben draws upon Foucault's analysis of biopolitics and Carl Schmitt's idea of the sovereign's status as the exception to the rules he safeguards. He defines the 'sacred person' as one who can be killed and yet not sacrificed, a paradox that is operative in the status of the modern individual living in a system that exerts control over the collective 'naked life' of all individuals. The book examines how the sacred and the taboo are interlinked with sovereignty, and how this relationship shapes modern politics and the individual's place within society[2][3][4].

Published in 1962, 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' is a seminal novel by Ken Kesey that delves into the dehumanizing effects of institutionalization and the struggle for individuality. The story, narrated by Chief Bromden, a half-Indian patient, takes place in an Oregon psychiatric hospital where the strict and oppressive regime of Nurse Mildred Ratched is challenged by the arrival of Randle P. McMurphy, a charismatic and rebellious patient. The novel explores the boundaries between sanity and madness, conformity and rebellion, and questions the power dynamics within institutions. It became a symbol of countercultural resistance and has had a significant impact on discussions surrounding mental health and societal treatment of the mentally ill.

In 'Postscript on the Societies of Control', Gilles Deleuze examines the transition from disciplinary societies, characterized by rigid enclosures like prisons and factories, to societies of control, marked by fluid and continuous forms of surveillance and modulation. Deleuze argues that these societies operate through subtle mechanisms of control, often perceived as exercises of freedom, and are deeply intertwined with modern technology and capitalism.