Space, Knowledge and Power: Foucault and Geography

This edited volume provides an introduction to Foucault’s writings in relation to the interests of the discipline of geography. More specifically, the editors outline the objectives to be, first, “…to provide a comprehensive overview of Foucault’s engagement with geographical concerns and geography’s engagement with Foucault”; and second, “…to begin to open up a new range of themes and questions for the continuation of that engagement” (page 1). This last point is made in the context of the continuing translation of Foucault’s work into English. The co-editors note that “…our aim here is not to show that somehow space is the hidden explanatory lens through which Foucault’s work must be seen but rather it is a factor, at times only in the margins or in the background, that can be found throughout much of his work” (page 9). Although not its intention, the book also provides an introduction to many of the themes of Foucault’s work that are of interest to development specialists, particularly those with a focus on human settlements.

The volume is divided into six parts. Part I contains questions that emerged from an interview in 1976 in which Foucault participated together with some French geographers. These questions offer an interrogation of the discipline of geography, following Foucault’s own concerns and with particular concentration on issues of space and power. The interview itself is reprinted in Part V. Part II contains francophone responses to these questions, reflecting the concerns of French geography at the time. Part III includes four more recent Anglophone reflections on Foucault’s work and questions, and an analysis of the significance of his ideas for spatial knowledge. Part IV contains papers that elaborate and examine the context in which Foucault was writing, to assist with the reader’s understanding of the development of his ideas and the ways in which these ideas have been taken up or not. Part V includes four translations of papers previously unavailable in English and one reprint. Part VI (which is almost half the volume) contains a number of contributions that take up ideas embedded within Foucault’s analysis of space, knowledge and power and develop them further.