Between blows and dispositives: Foucault, Certeau and the constitution of the subjects

Abstract

The article points at similarities and differences in some of the main concepts used by Michel de Certeau and Michel Foucault, and presents a proposal to bring the two authors closer to each other in their study of the constitution of subjectivities. The work under study is The practice of everyday life, which is considered vis-à-vis Foucault’s contributions on discourse analysis and on the moral constitution of the subject. These discussions point at an analytic exam in which discourses and daily practices are approached, leading to rearrangements in the games of truth, as a result of their strategic and tactical products. Governmental mechanisms are then analyzed in terms of their ability to “accroach” local forms of knowledge. Objects that have been established in the midst of power relations (institutions, mechanisms, discourses) – and not only their uses – are examined inasmuch as they interfere in the use of socially-produced forms of knowledge. From these contributions, the article presents an analytic proposal based on daily and discursive practices.