Foucault News

Mark K. George, How Deuteronomy Created “Israel” Technologies of the Self, Government, and Writing, Routledge, 2026

Description
In this book, Mark K. George argues that the goal of Deuteronomy is not merely to provide ancient Judah with another set of laws but to write “Israel” itself into existence. He reads Deuteronomy as a manual for self‑definition with two key aspects: being an Israelite means recognizing oneself as a subject under Yahweh’s control, and Deuteronomy is the handbook of techniques by which one monitors oneself to become Israel.

Scholars have acknowledged the influence of certain literary features of ancient Assyrian imperial treaties on Deuteronomy. In this book, George argues that the key to both Deuteronomy and Assyrian rituals of control is their monitoring mechanism, not only speaking to their audiences but also providing them with new ways to understand themselves and behave. He suggests that Deuteronomy redefines not only Israel but also Yahweh himself according to an Assyrian imperial model—with Israel as the subject, God as a distant imperial ruler, and the text itself as a local monitor. In showing this, he extends the insights of Michel Foucault, who urged us to view power not merely as something imposed from above by force, but as something that can entwine and shape us from below.

This book provides an invaluable exploration of Deuteronomy, of interest to scholars and students working on Deuteronomy itself and biblical studies more generally, as well as on questions of ancient politics and governmentality, Foucault studies, and the history and material culture of the Ancient Near East.

Mark K. George, Professor of Bible and Ancient Systems of Thought, taught for nearly 30 years at the Iliff School of Theology. His research focuses on the Torah and how to think differently about it. His publications include Israel’s Tabernacle as Social Space and numerous articles, essays, and other materials.

Marita Rainsborough, Foucault Today. New Perspectives in Philosophy and Cultural Studies, [Transcript]. 2025

Michel Foucault is considered one of the most important philosophers of the 20th century. Marita Rainsborough examines the current relevance of his work with reference to the post- and decolonial theories of Achille Mbembe, Homi Bhabha and Walter D. Mignolo in a global context. She incorporates the philosophy of Judith Butler and Byung-Chul Han as well as New Realism into the critical reading of Foucault, and emphasises the philosophical references to Bloch and Kant that have so far been neglected in his reception. Considering the subject between knowledge, power, ethics and aesthetics, an overall review as well as new aspects for the philosophical discussion of this French classic are offered.

Marita Rainsborough, Leuphana Universität Lüneburg, Deutschland

With thanks to Progressive Geographies for this news

Doris Brothers, Jon Sletvold, Psychoanalytic Explorations of Embodied Relational Knowing, Routledge, 2026

Publicity flyer PDF

Description
This book offers groundbreaking insights into relational theory, exploring the patient’s and the analyst’s longings to know, be known and not known in psychoanalytic relationships, and the embodied nature of the healing process.

Recognition of the patient’s unknowable uniqueness, which is not fully accessible by means of empathy, is shown to promote more ethical therapeutic practices. Although few psychoanalytic books have highlighted the work of the philosopher, Michel Foucault, Brothers and Sletvold find much that is highly relevant in his work. They also demonstrate the powerful influence of culture, history, politics and world events on the therapeutic encounter.

With an informed and compassionate perspective, this book is essential reading for psychoanalysts and psychotherapists regardless of their theoretical orientation.

Doris Brothers is a co-founder of the Training and Research in Intersubjective Self Psychology Foundation. She was a co-editor of Psychoanalysis, Self and Context with Roger Frie from 2015 to 2019 and is consulting editor of Psychoanalytic Inquiry. She has written four books including Toward a Psychology of Uncertainty: Trauma-Centered Psychoanalysis (2008) and many journal articles. She practices on the upper west side of Manhattan, New York, USA, and in Oslo, Norway.

Jon Sletvold is the founding board director of the Norwegian Character Analytic Institute. He has published books and articles on the role of the body in psychoanalysis and psychotherapy. He is the author of The Embodied Analyst: From Freud and Reich to Relationality (2014), winner of the Gradiva Award in 2015. Co-director with Doris Brothers of the Wilhelm Reich Center for the Study of Embodiment.