Foucault, Michel

Michel Foucault was one of the most important thinkers of the second half of the 20th century. He was born in Poitiers, France, on October 15, 1926, and died in Paris on June 25, 1984. Foucault actively participated in the post–World War II European political and intellectual arenas, and his work challenged the ways of understanding the complex theoretical and political relationships between power, subjectivity, truth, and history. The concepts elaborated by Foucault constitute a relevant set of tools for poverty studies since they enlighten how poverty has been constructed as a social problem throughout multiple discourses and practices, the historical conditions of its emergence as such, and the subjectivation processes involved in the various methods of intervention on poor populations over time.

In 1946, Foucault ...