The Birth of Biopolitics: Lectures at the College De France, 1978-1979

A sixth compilation of lectures delivered at the Collge de France between 1970 and 1984 continues the speaker's coverage of 18th-century political economy, evaluating its role in the origins of a liberal governmental rationality that is at the heart of current debates about the role and status of neo-liberalism today. 10,000 first printing. Reprint.

Picador is proud to publish the sixth volume in Foucault's prestigious, groundbreaking series of lectures at the Collège de France from 1970 to 1984 

The Birth of Biopolitics continues to pursue the themes of Foucault's lectures from Security, Territory, Population. Having shown how eighteenth-century political economy marks the birth of a new governmental rationality--seeking maximum effectiveness by governing less and in accordance with the naturalness of the phenomena to be governed--Michel Foucault undertakes a detailed analysis of the forms of this liberal governmentality. In a direct and conversational tone, this book raises questions of political philosophy and social policy that are at the heart of current debates about the role and status of neo-liberalism in twentieth century politics.