Normativity versus normalisation: reassembling actor-network theory through Butler and Foucault

ABSTRACT

Judith Butler is often heralded as carrying on the legacy of Foucault, yet Butlerian normalisation is engrained in a sincere (mis)interpretation of Foucault. Foucault’s work on punitive measures defined a historically-limited domain by which one could map out a clustered network of power relations, or what he called a dispositif. By revisiting their differences and rethinking their relationship accordingly, one can piece together a methodological model that is immensely utilisable for actor-network theory (ANT). While Butler’s performativity allots agency to nonhuman entities – viewing it more as a dispersed field of agency – Foucault’s genealogy contextually places various power relations, particularly pertaining to material and immaterial nonhuman entities. More than just laying out a method for ANT though, highlighting their differences can help us rethink how we visualise the subject, the body, materialism and agency in very innovative ways while also gaining a deeper insight into what separates Foucault and Butler. Alongside this, we can see how their combined contribution helps ANT with (a) its lack of attention given to immaterial entities, (b) its reluctance to deal with identarian politics and (c) the divide between its more performative and its more practical branches.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This article was supported by the Charles University Grant Agency (Grantová Agentura, Univerzita Karlova) [494217: Nationalist Violence and Identity in France] as well as a PRIMUS grant [PRIMUS/HUM/12: Beyond Hegemonic Narratives and Myths. Troubled Pasts in the History and Memory of East-Central & South-East Europe]. I would also like to thank Aret Karademir for his guidance and theoretical contributions, all of which made this work possible.

Notes on contributors

Jacob Maze

Jacob Maze currently a PhD candidate in Political Science at the Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, Jacob Maze received his BA in English and philosophy from Indiana University and his MA in philosophy from Middle East Technical University. Having already published on both Butler and Foucault, he primarily tackles topics in political philosophy dealing political identity and political violence, particularly from a Foucauldian perspective. His dissertation focuses on establishing a viable model of violence within Foucault's theories, utilizing the socio-historical roots of nationalism and national belonging in specific European contexts and the results this has had on nationalist-inspired violence. This has required taking a serious look at Foucault-inspired or Foucauldian-sympathetic methodologies, including actor-network theory, dispositive analysis and various forms of genealogy.