Date: Thu, 1 Aug 2002 21:39:52 -0700 (PDT) From: Mohamed Gad <mohgad-AT-yahoo.com> Subject: Applying Foucault's Power/Knowledge Analysis Dear all, Thank you for some quite interesting emails on Foucault.....I am glad to see the discussion pick up again after a period of silence. I am a rookie in my knowledge of Foucault, and that not much better than my knowledge of Social Theory in general.....an economist and lawyer by many years training, I have been drilled to the bone in the positivist tradition....so bear with me as you read this email! But anyway, I stumbled into Foucault a year and a half ago exactly, as I was researching a problem in International Economic Law. This problem revolves around the intellectual property agreement of the World Trade Organisation, the TRIPS Agreement (Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights), which as you might have heard has been at the centre of controversy over the patenting of HIV/AIDS medicines and access to them by patients in the developing world. The way Foucault's work came to my attention in addressinng this problem has to do with the way powerful pharmaceutical multinationals presented arguments that largely shaped the ensuing debate on the topic - obviously to their favour (mainly economic and jurisprudential arguments). This - as I argue from my level of understanding of FOucault - is one of the ways through which his work can be applied to 'empirical' problems - even in the unlikely arena of international regulation. As such, in an attempt to build bridges between Foucault and international law, I would like to get your feedback on this usage...and equally important if you can direct me to examples where Foucault's Power/Knowledge analysis has been applied to recent and perhaps more 'mundane' studies...this of course as opposed to his own studies on incarceration and sexuality, as well as other similar and equally grand studies by Said on Orientalism for example (although I figure Said would refute the link to Foucault). Looking forward to your feedback. Have a good day, Mohamed __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com
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