Abstract

This article examines Michel Foucault’s contributions to the study of power in the history of political economy. It employs Foucault’s readings on economic thought to investigate two moments in the history of political economy: classical political economy and Keynesian economics, in which economic reasoning and practice affected the creation and dissemination of power relations in the social realm. By reconsidering the ontological dynamics that encompass the modern role of the state, economic policies and civil society, the article explores how power displays a changing face in light of different discursive and non-discursive elements throughout the history of political economy, in which “economic knowledge” and “scientific discourses” are reconceived as political apparatuses. The article concludes how a closer look into Foucault’s historical ontology allows for a reassessment of the field of action of political economy, showing its consequences in the political field, in the interpretation of historical facts and in the analysis of power/truth. More specifically, how moments in the history of political economy can be reconsidered not simply as systems of economic ideas, but as political apparatuses that create power.

摘要

本文考察了米歇尔·福柯在政治经济学史上对权力研究的贡献。它利用福柯对经济思想的解读来考察政治经济学史上的两个时刻：古典政治经济学和凯恩斯主义经济学，其中经济推理和实践影响了社会领域中权力关系的建立和传播。通过重新考虑包含国家，经济政策和公民社会的现代角色的本体论动态，本文探讨了在整个政治经济历史中，权力是如何根据不同的话语和非话语元素表现出变化的面孔的，其中“经济知识”和“科学话语”被重新视为政治工具。文章的结论是，仔细研究福柯的历史本体论，可以对政治经济学的行动领域进行重新评估，从而显示其在政治领域，历史事实的解释以及对权力/真相的分析中的后果。更具体地说，如何将政治经济学历史上的时刻不仅重新考虑为经济思想体系，而且还重新考虑为创造权力的政治机构。