Beyond Theology and Sexuality: Foucault, the Self and the Que(e)rying of Monotheistic Truth

This article appears in the first collection of papers on Foucault and theology. The book was an attempt by Bernauer and Carrette to bring together a variety of engagements with Foucault’s thought since his death in 1984 in order to capture a watershed in the intellectual exchange. It has become a defining text in this genre. The article captures this new frontier of engagements by trying to explore the implications of Foucault’s genealogy of sexuality in terms of how his work inspired writings in gay and lesbian literature known as ‘queer theory’. The article explores the close relation between discourses of sexuality and theology and attempts to show how Foucault’s rejection of sexuality presents a challenge to monotheistic theology. The position is substantiated by excursions into Foucault’s model of the self and examinations of Buddhist traditions, which develop concepts of desire not sexuality. The article shows the importance of Foucault’s work for rethinking theology in terms of contemporary discussions of queer sexuality

The Undecided Space of Ethics in Organizational Surveillance

While much contemporary organizational research has highlighted how surveillance and self-surveillance are dominant modes of attempting subjective control in organizations, in this article we consider whether &lsquo;being seen&rsquo; harbours the potential to also engender an ethics that motivates care for self and other. This ethics resides in an &lsquo;undecided space&rsquo;&mdash; one where individual conduct and subjectivity are not decided by surveillance-based discipline but performed by active subjects in interaction with each other in relation to that discipline. We draw on fieldwork conducted in the spinal unit of a major hospital to explore and demonstrate the instability of the association between discipline and surveillance in organizational life. The article provides an account of how a video-based intervention in the hospital led to alternative conducts and outcomes. We consider examples of in situ practice that show clinicians being dynamically attuned to one another in response to the video study. The contribution of the article is to demonstrate and illustrate how emergent subjectivity and interaction can result from such video &lsquo;surveillance&rsquo;. We conclude that &lsquo;being seen&rsquo; can intensify mutual attentiveness to the point where interaction affords an ethic of care for self and other.</p

Öffentliche Meinung und "Policy Feedback"

Dieser Beitrag diskutiert das wechselseitige Verhältnis von öffentlicher Meinung und Sozialpolitik. Der Rolle der öffentlichen Meinung ist in jüngerer Zeit große Aufmerksamkeit zugekommen aufgrund ihres Einflusses auf sozialpolitisches Handeln politischer Parteien. Wir zeigen in diesem Beitrag unterschiedliche empirische und normative Perspektiven auf, die sich mit dieser Frage beschäftigen. Im zweiten Teil diskutieren wir, wie über Policy Feedback-Prozesse die öffentliche Meinung selbst von bestehenden Policies und Institutionen beeinflusst wird