By Bernard E. Harcourt
In light of the rich discussion at Foucault 3/13, I began researching the role of civil war—and of the war model in social thought more generally—and turned to Hans Joas and Wolfgang Knöbl’s book War in Social Thought: Hobbes to the Present (Princeton University Press, 2013).
I was surprised to discover that the authors report a “blindness of contemporary sociology, and, above all, social theory with regard to war or—more generally—to violence” (p. 2).
Even more surprised to read that, according to Joas and Knöbl, Michel Foucault spawned a historical perspective “from which war was of no special interest” (p. 15).
No special interest? It appears they have never read Foucault. I will need to look elsewhere. Any suggestions are welcome…
I am enjoying the Foucault series, watching it on streaming. In answer to your query, I can refer you to two books that work with the war model and are in engagement with Foucault. My forthcoming book Archives of the Insensible : of War, Photopolitics and Dead Memory (2015) speaks to the stasiology of the state (briefly discussed by Schmitt) as a critique and supplement of the war model in Society Must be Defended. My earlier book Formations of Violence on civil war in Northern Ireland focuses on prison protests– the dirt protest and hunger striking– and is deeply engaged with Foucault’s work. The theory of stasis is of course discussed in Agamben’s recent book Civil War as a Political Concept. I can also recommend the work of Yves Charles Zarka on Hobbes.
Best
Allen Feldman
New York University