Recent discussions on Foucault\u27s work on the care of the self have centred on its apparent excessive individualist focus. Ella Myers for example argues that the practices of the care of the self do not correct the depoliticizing effects of disciplinary power and biopower. Amy Allen takes Foucault to task for his account of the care of the self because the relations with others in Foucault\u27s account are inadequate for the formation of an ethical subject. In this paper I offer an alternative interpretation of Foucault account of the care of the self. I argue that the social and reciprocal dimension in Foucault\u27s account of \u27the care of the self\u27 is more substantive than Foucault\u27s critics permit and self-cultivation in the care of the self need not foreclose possibilities for associative politics
