Foucault’s Spatial Archaeology of Experience

It is widely acknowledged that Foucault’s early works introduce a spatial analysis, most famously in the ideas of exclusion and confinement that feature in History of Madness. For some, his use of space in this way compromises his ability to deal adequately with history. In this talk Prof. David Webb will propose that Foucault does not begin with a ready-made conceptual geometry but rather maps a multiplicity of historical and theoretical limits, divisions, exclusions and practices of various kinds from which the recurrent spatial forms that define a historical period emerge. 

To develop this reading, Prof. Webb draws on Michel Serres’s essay “The Geometry of the Incommunicable: Madness,” which helps us to see how Foucault’s method is topological in that he identifies relational structures that remain invariant across transformations. This allows Foucault to work directly with variations, allowing sense to emerge from the general messiness of the phenomenal world. Far from marginalizing historical change, Foucault emphasizes its importance. While Prof. Webb’s talk will primarily focus on Foucault's approach to history, he will outline some questions regarding art to which it gives rise.

This online presentation on Thursday, April 9 at 2pm EST is free and open to all. Please register here or at the link above. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email with information about joining the webinar.

David Webb is Professor of Philosophy at Staffordshire University. His book Foucault’s Archaeology: Science and Transformation (Edinburgh University Press, 2013) set Foucault’s archaeology against the background of French philosophy of science. His interests include Foucault’s conception of critique as a rational practice, and the work of Michel Serres, especially with regard to ethics, politics, and ecological philosophy. He has published several papers and book chapters on the work of Serres, is co-editor of the series Michel Serres and Material Futures at Bloomsbury Press and is the co-translator with Bill Ross of Serres’ book The Birth of Physics (Rowman and Littlefield, 2018).

*Image above: Map of Paris hospitals in 1820 with representations of the Salpêtrière Hospice, the [old] Hôtel Dieu, the Maison de Sainte-Périne, the Central Pharmacy, the Saint-Antoine Hospital, the Beaujon Hospital, the Orphanage, the Royal Health House, the Maternity Hospital, the Bicêtre Hospice, the General Administration Building, the Venereal Disease Hospital, the Clinical Hospital of the School of Medicine, the Charity Hospital, the Montrouge Retirement Home, the Cochin Hospital, the Foundling Hospital, the Hospice for Incurable Women and the Saint-Louis Hospital.