The Foucault Effect in the Sociology of Knowledge

Abstract

This research proposes that Foucault’s concepts of power/knowledge and genealogy constitute a significant turning point, not only in philosophical and historical terms but also in the research framework of the sociology of knowledge. The first level of Foucault’s contribution to the sociology of knowledge is widely recognized through the concept of discourse and its dimensions of materiality, power and knowledge. The second level is the analytical grid of power/knowledge itself, which focuses on the relays established between them. The third level, which we consider a crucial area open to further interpretation, is the concept of the history of the present. Although Foucault’s contribution has already been acknowledged in contemporary sociological research of knowledge, our objective is to expand on this recognition by highlighting the significance of genealogy’s dimensions to existing approaches, namely the historical sociology of knowledge and sociology of knowledge approach to discourse.

U ovom istraživanju polazimo od hipoteze da Fukoovi koncepti moći/znanja i genealogije predstavljaju ne samo značajan zaokret u filozofskom i istorijskom smislu, već i kada je u pitanju istraživački okvir sociologije znanja. Prvi nivo Fukoovog doprinosa sociologiji znanja prepoznat je u njegovom konceptu diskursa i dimenzijama materijalnosti, moći i znanja. Drugi važan nivo na kojem je dao doprinos ovoj disciplini je analitička rešetka moći/znanja u kojoj fokus stavljamo na odnose moći i znanja. Treći nivo, koji prepoznajemo kao ključan i u kojem vidimo prostora za dalje interpretacije jeste koncept istorije sadašnjosti. Iako je Fukoov doprinos već prepoznat u okviru socioloških istraživanja znanja, naš cilj u ovom radu je da, oslanjajući se na neke od tih pristupa – poput istorijske sociologije znanja i analize diskursa iz ugla sociologije znanja – objasnimo značaj pomenutih dimenzija genealogije.