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Jun 01, 2008

Matthew rated it:

I suppose it's high time I write a review of this book, as I finished it several days ago. At the time, though, it was quite late, and I have much to say -- or at least, I thought I did -- so I wanted to wait until I had more time. And here we are. To summarize, I think Foucault's argument is quite interesting, and the ideas he proffers are mind-boggling... and yet, they also have an extremely large blind-spot: the individual's sexuality or, to put it another way, sexuality as the individual exp More...

7 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jun 24, 2010

gieb rated it:

Membaca buku ini pas dengan momennya. Karena seperti kita ketahui bersama, beberapa minggu terakhir ini, kita bisa menyaksikan betapa kekuasaan mampu menggapai, menembus dan mengontrol individu sampai pada kenikmatan-kenikmatan yang paling intim. Tanpa perlu saya sebutkan siapa aktor individu tersebut, kita dipahamkan dari peristiwa ini, bahwa di seputar hubungan intim itu telah dibangun perlengkapan serta mesin untuk memproduksi kebenaran. Artinya seks ternyata bukan hanya masalah sensasi denga More...

8 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2008

Trevor rated it:

A much more difficult Foucault - and not nearly as interesting as his history of madness. He seems to take a long time to get started and does seem to repeat himself an awful lot.

All the same, the ideas around the difference between Western and Eastern notions of sexuality are well with thinking about. Essentially Eastern sexuality is an erotic thing - something understood through experience. Western sexuality is 'scientific' in the sense that it only makes sense once we can tal More...

5 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 14, 2008

Yumi rated it:

um. what can i say about this book that hasnt already been said? i read it my second year of college and it blew my mind, and in a good way, unlike kant, who made me cry actual tears in overwhelming frustration. foucaults ability to trace the burgeoning relationship between science and sexuality, the changes in the ways of perceiving a womans body, the notion of the creation of (a) sexuality, and, of course, the dynamics of power and discourse, are nothing short of brilliant in this classic stud More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 27, 2010

kappoo rated it:

ازپایان سده شانزدهم بدین سو، "به گفتمان درآوردن" سکس نه از فرایند محدودیت، بلکه برعکس از سازوکار تحریک فزاینده تبعیت می کند، که نشان می دهد تکنیک های قدرتی که بر سکس اعمال می شود، نه از اصل انتخاب سختگیرانه، بلکه از اصل انتشار و اشاعه سکسوالیته های چند ریختی تبعیت می کند و نشان می دهد که اراده به دانستن دربرابر تابویی رفع ناشدنی متوقف نشده است، بلکه برساخت علمی از سکسوالیته اصرار داشته است. ...صفحه20 More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jun 24, 2010

mahatma rated it:

buku ini saya dapatkan dari undi gunawan yang memberikan begitu saja ke saya tanpa ganti apa-apa.
he..he..
itu orang baek bener!
rasanya ini sama dengan yang diterbitkan oleh gramedia dulu. penerjemahnya sama [rahayu s.hidayat:], penyuntingnya juga masih jean couteau. cuma, edisi ini covernya kereen..
he..he..
ini adalah jilid 1 dari ketiga jilid dalam seri 'the history of sexuality'
[eh, terjemahan indonesia ini langsung dari prancisnya, bukan lewat english. makan More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 23, 2011

Justin rated it:

I read this as an undergrad, and probably got nothing out of it- nothing I can remember, anyway. Coming back to it now, I was pleasantly surprised. The bad news is that the most interesting stuff in the book is exactly *not* to do with sexuality, but that most of the book is, in fact, about the history of (the discourse of) sexuality. That history is kind of tiresome: in the nineteenth century, people came up with new and inventive ways to talk about sex. Rinse and repeat for hundreds of example More...

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Oct 16, 2010

The Awdude rated it:

This book just might be one of the most important contributions to Western thought ever written. Every page is completely fascinating. I couldn't put it down, and I'm actually sad it's already over. Sadness is normal when experiencing theory, but usually not sadness as a result of the experience ending. That kind of sadness, for me at least, has traditionally been associated with having to leave the world of a piece of fiction. When I finished reading David Foster Wallace's three story coll More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 07, 2010

Jon rated it:

Although skeptical at first, I was quickly drawn into Foucault’s argument that we are programmed to talk about sex (and therefore to act sexually) as a result of political, religious and other societal forces, each with its own agenda. That we are determined by our societal institutions would seem obvious, yet we tend to think of ourselves as free agents.

Foucault’s evidence is overwhelming, though it seems dated, coming mostly from France and Germany in the 19th century. But ther More...

5 comments like

May 30, 2009

Bradley rated it:

Reading this for my Materialist Workshop/Reading Group. We've delved into Birth of the Clinic, a few of his Lectures, and the three volumes of History of Sexuality. Foucault said that History of Sexuality was supposed to be his magnum opus. It took him nearly a decade to complete, and it is comprised mainly of 'Big Ideas,' in the sense that Foucault often forgets to flesh out the details of his work. He paints in broad brush strokes, and I attribute this lack of detail to his burgeoning status More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 08, 2010

Jay rated it:

Hm.

I could give this three stars. I very easily could. I actually rate this one closer to 2.5/3 than two stars. It's revolutionary and thought provoking and challenging, and oh look at what Foucault has said, but I need to be honest to myself, and honestly I didn't find it challenging, or very thought provoking. Revolutionary, yes, and deeply philosophising maybe, but not enjoyable. And ultimately, that's what I rate things on. A book or author may have people on the edge of their se More...

0 comments like

Jun 02, 2010

Ali rated it:

Why one more review?

Reading our comrades' review, one is very surprised. First of all, many seem to think this book "outdated", which is quite surprising - towards Foucault's writings, the question probably is if we failed the test of time, rather than if he did...

More interesting, most seem to be deceived by the title, and assume this is a book about "sexuality".

Indeed, the discourse on sexuality (Victorian Era, confession, psychoanalysis, More...

0 comments like

May 24, 2007

Holly rated it:

There's some interesting juxtapositions here, but if you've read a reasonable amount of Freud, had some early exposure to Thomas Kuhn, and plowed through a lot of Max Weber (as Foucault has, compare "Discipline & Punish" to the 2 Volume "Economy & Society" and the more difficult "Methodology of the Social Sciences"), there's nothing especially new here. The punch line is interesting, and I give Foucault credit for his striking formulation of it, but I'm not blown a

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 31, 2011

Phil rated it:

Really not what I was expecting, but given what I know about Foucault this is in line with his major concerns. The book isn't really about sexuality in the common sense--it's about the set of discourses (a la Foucault) that structure and create sexuality and allow some to wield power through the use of sexuality. Probably the most surprising thing for me is that this entire volume almost is dedicated to challenging the idea that there has been a long period when sexuality has been repressed. Fou More...

0 comments like

May 30, 2009

Kristen rated it:

In the words of my professor, "we're living in a post-Foucauldian world, so this will seem really self-evident, but that doesn't mean its right." Coming from that angle, I've been reading from a very critical position. I like Foucault's thesis and his examination seems pretty exhaustive, at least historically. I'm really caught on the discussion of the bourgeoisie and proletariat 'sexual bodies.' Foucault's statement that the technology of sexuality and proliferation of sexual power di More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 09, 2009

Thomas rated it:

The title of this book is a misnomer. To be more precise, it should be "Historical Relationships of Power and the Discourse on Sex." Rather than describing the development of sexual expression itself, Foucault focuses on the discourse surrounding sex. But he does so intentionally-- his claim is that there is no such thing as "sex itself." It is a socially constructed idea that fascinates, frustrates, and torments us. The physical act of sexual reproduction is only one factor More...

0 comments like

Apr 27, 2011

Daniel rated it:

A classic work. I'll be teaching a course on Human Sexuality again this summer (it is a lot of fun) and decided to give this book the thorough read-through that it deserved. Foucault's book is widely regarded as having shifted the entire landscape for how sexuality is approached academically. He persuasively demonstrates that the attendant ideas which Western society packages in the concept of sexuality (sexual identity, orientation, repression, guilt, perversion, and so on) are not part of a 'n More...

0 comments like

Aug 15, 2009

Leila rated it:

God, Foucault is so intense. I read this at university, and now that I think of it, I probably didn't end up reading the whole thing. I really do appreciate reading Foucault itself, not an interpretation of his stuff, but it's very long and dense and requires a level of concentration that most of my life does not demand; I am therefore unpracticed and inept at it.

The point of this review is that even if you read just a few chapters of this, it will be intellectually edifying. And I More...

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Jan 12, 2011

James rated it:

I am a philosopher, and (analytic) philosophers do not consider Foucault to be a philosopher. I read this b/c I was part of an interdisciplinary class in which it was assigned. I'm glad I have now read something by Foucault, but I did not find him to be very interesting, and his confusions were a constant bother to me. His favorite method of argument is to find an example or an anecdote and treat it as though it shows something. Generalizations are constantly being made from mere illustratio More...

0 comments like

Feb 18, 2009

Gill rated it:

How do our ideas of gender and sex relate to the political economy and history of Europe... well, voila!

Strange to see how powerful this book is in its arguments and to still have sociobiologist come out to explain how modern sexuality actually can be explained by genetic coding of our behavior... Maybe there is somewhere in between? The subject internalizes social power, but is there some sort of rhyme or reason to social power besides material accumulation or accumulation of power More...

0 comments like

Aug 21, 2011

Sean rated it:

I started this book about 8 months ago in a Critical Gender Studies Class at UCSD. This being the first book I'd ever read by a well-recognized philosopher, I didn't really know what to expect. As I was finishing it up tonight, I realized that I've mainly read fiction and biographies my whole life. I really want to read more philosophy. It's so interesting to hear someone's thoughts on the processes & discourses that shape the world around us. Foucault, in this book, systematically dismantles wh More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 09, 2009

Jesse rated it:

What can one possibly hope to say, especially in a capsule review? Much more accessible than I was anticipating, and the way it flipped over and then systematically deconstructed a general assumption of mine (and most people, I'd say)--namely, that the steadily increasing discourse regarding sex, sexuality and the human body over the last several centuries has NOT led to a more open and liberated understanding of such topics, but has actually led to more restriction and, inevitably, guilt.
More...

2 comments like

Jul 27, 2009

Sandy rated it:

The only book you really need to read of Foucaults (although many others are very worth reading). It is a great exercise in his prominent theory of the myth of the hierarichal origins of power. Among other interesting claims, Foucault explains how the rise of medical terminology like "perverse" and "invert" gave rise to an identity that could later be reclaimed as something more positive. According to Foucault, in a very Post-Structuralist vein, naming gives rise to existence More...

0 comments like

Feb 06, 2010

Vern rated it:

this was not a book chosen by me to read, but was actually fairly provocative and interesting...in essence the book is mostly about power, concepts like that power is not just disciplinary but that it lies in the less obvious ability to set definitions of normality and abnormality are insightful and very true.

it is interesting that the primary conclusion of this book is actually congenial with Christian thought: all of the focus on the topic that the book is named for has created a More...

0 comments like

Jan 18, 2010

Matt rated it:

The History of Sexuality is a history with little to no citation. What struck me as particularly frustrating with Foucault in Discipline and Punish is also present here. Whereas I have some understanding of legal history to recognize the generalities and oversimplified principles operating within his summary of criminal law, I don’t have the same background in gender studies or the equivalent. Undoubtedly, he sketches the evolution of societal response to sexuality in a hurried outline, but More...

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May 25, 2011

Joya rated it:

When I was required to read the chapter The Incitement to Discourse in week 2 of my Introduction to Sociology unit, my thoughts were "Michael Foucault can Fouc-off" - it was well and truly over my head! I've done a little bit more sociological reading two months down the track, and now for exam preparation I am reading this first volume, and getting it. Well, more than I did two months ago.
I watched the movie Bright Star (about John Keats) last night, and my study and readings More...

0 comments like

Oct 04, 2010

Josh added it

a little repetitive. revolutionary, apparently.

Foucault claims that before the Victorian age, people's sex wasn't a source of their identity. You could have sex with dudes without being gay, and I guess you could have sex with rocks without being a perv.

the 18th century invented the scrutiny of sex, and by creating categories of sexual types, people began policing their own behavior. This possibly benefited the economy by establishing more productive social institution More...

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Sep 21, 2009

Jen rated it:

After reading this, I can't read anything else without seeing his influence. The relationships between power/knowledge and the construction of sexuality...he turns assumptions upside down and offers a different way of interpreting events, especially commonly held ideas about power relationships. For example, he dismisses the idea that victorian values repressed sexuality. He would insist that just the opposite is true - that the Victorian age offered multiple sites and institutions which increa More...

0 comments like

May 29, 2007

Amol rated it:

The more I get angry at this book, the more I become intrigued.

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 20, 2011

Grace rated it:

Had read about a third of this in bits and pieces, and realised I really just needed to start again and read it from start to finish for it to go in properly. Quite dense and full of ridiculous sentences like: 'Broadly speaking, at the juncture of the "body" and the "population", sex became a crucial target of a power organized around the management of life rather than the menace of death'. However, interesting ideas/perspectives - not convincingly 'true' in an empirical sens More...

1 comment like

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