Over the past two decades, Michel Foucault’s work has continued to inspire and challenge scholars across a wide spectrum of disciplines. His analyses of *raison d’État*, governmentality, and biopolitics remain particularly relevant for scholars of modern history, political theory, and cultural studies. Far from being confined to one academic field, Foucault’s conceptual tools offer a flexible and dynamic framework for interrogating the evolution of state power, the organization of knowledge, and the mechanisms of social control.
Michel Foucault has proved to be an invaluable hermeneutical toolkit for recent socio-political developments. The Covid pandemic and biopolitics, the persistence of neoliberalism and its effects on life. The most recent research done on Foucault as an instigator of economic theology (Stimilli 2015) or recent works on the linkage between Foucault and the Reformation (Lindholm and Di Carlo 2024), Foucault and Tacitus (Di Carlo 2024, Ferraro 2024) and Foucault and the US Supreme Court (Di Carlo 2024b) prove the importance and the significance of Foucault.
This panel invites contributions that engage with Foucault’s theoretical legacy, whether by applying his concepts to new historical contexts, reflecting on his methodological approach, or reassessing his ideas in light of contemporary geopolitical transformations. We are especially interested in papers that explore how Foucault’s reflections on state power and the art of government can inform current debates on global governance, authoritarianism, and political resistance.
In addition, the panel seeks to highlight the impact of Foucault’s thought on subjects as diverse as linguistics, law, and film studies. We welcome interdisciplinary proposals that either extend Foucault’s methodologies to new domains or critically engage with his intellectual legacy to shape future academic research.
Scholars working in history, philosophy, political science, sociology, linguistics, and related fields are encouraged to submit proposals. The panel aims to foster a rich dialogue on the contemporary significance of Foucault’s work and its ongoing potential for scholarly advancement.
