The Routledge Guidebook to Foucault's The History of Sexuality

by Chloë Taylor

Michel Foucault’s The History of Sexuality is one of the most influential philosophical works of the twentieth century and has been instrumental in shaping the study of Gender, Feminist Theory and Queer Theory. But Foucault’s writing can be a difficult book to grasp as Foucault assumes a familiarity with the intellectually dominant theories of his time which renders many passages obscure for newcomers to his work.



The Routledge Guidebook to Foucault’s The History of Sexuality offers a clear and comprehensive guide to this groundbreaking work,





The historical context in which Foucault wrote



A critical discussion of the text, which examines the relationship between The History of Sexuality, The Use of Pleasure and The Care of The Self



The reception and ongoing influence of The History of Sexuality

Offering a close reading of the text, this is essential reading for anyone studying this enormously influential work.

Genres: Philosophy, Sexuality, Nonfiction

273 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 3, 2016

About the author

Chloë Taylor is a feminist philosopher, critical animal studies scholar, prison abolitionist, and professor of women’s and gender studies at the university of Alberta.

Reviews

[Jay Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was neither hide nor hair of Foucault on the curriculum when I was studying philosophy at university back in the early 80s, and what I've read since has been piecemeal and disjointed (Madness and Civilization, Discipline and Punish, The Order of Things). I've hesitated to take on his History of Sexuality because it comes in three volumes and isn't cheap, but in preparation (and to assess whether the effort of reading the original would be worth the time), I bought Chloe Taylor's guide.

I rarely go out of my way to recommend academic texts to people, and even less rarely do I recommend secondary texts, but this book is magnificent. Very clear, easy to follow, and as comprehensive as a synopsis can be, although Taylor does not stop at recapitulating and condensing Foucault's works; she also places them into their historical and sociological context, explaining the work's importance to and influence on radical feminism, queer theory, race theory, and our understanding of power and power relations. I really wish I'd had this book 30 years ago when I first broached the Foucauldian canon, and I recommend it now to anyone who has an interest in emancipatory politics and philosophy but who hasn't quite got to grips with some of the recent debates. Even if you have no such interest, give this book a go, since it's such an eye-opener and a lucid introduction to an entirely different way of understanding the world than that provided by standard and/or traditional socio-political analyses.

[Amal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very helpful and clear! This guidebook is brilliant, coherent and right to the point! The author made such a complex and dense book accessible by providing illuminating explanations and historical framing of the book's main ideas and concepts, using a beautiful writing style. Moreover you will find a 7-page analysis of Judith Butler's Gender Trouble in connection with foucault's History of Sexuality (It was a good surprise for me since I had Judith Butler in my list but found it so difficult to understand so the section about Butler was so helpful for me). To be honest, I enjoyed reading this book more than reading the original book by Foucault. Thank you Chloe Taylor I really needed such a book I'am so glad I found it. I wish the writer could publish more guidebooks of this kind.

[Kathleen O'Neal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michel Foucault's classic work "The History of Sexuality: Volume One" is an indispensable cornerstone of queer theory, philosophy of sexuality, and many other areas of current intense scholarly interest, but it is in many ways highly inaccessible even for those trained in studying philosophy and theoretical academic work regarding sexuality. Thankfully this excellent little book makes Foucault's work far more accessible without in any way dumbing the work down. Anyone that reads Foucault's "The History of Sexuality: Volume One" should read this volume along with it. Highly recommended.