Foucault's and Arendt's "insider view" of biopolitics: a critique of Agamben

This article revisits Arendt's and Foucault's converging accounts of modern (bio)politics and the entry of biological life into politics. Agamben's influential account of these ideas is rejected as a misrepresentation both because it de-historicizes biological/organic life and because it occludes the positivity of that life and thus the discursive appeal and performative force of biopolitics. Through attention to the genealogy of Arendt's and Foucault's own ideas we will see that the major point of convergence in their thinking is their insistence upon understanding biological thinking from the inside, in terms of its positivity. Agamben's assessment of modern politics is closer to Arendt's than it is to Foucault's and this marks a fascinating point of disagreement between Arendt and Foucault. Whereas Arendt sees the normalizing force of modern society as being in total opposition to individuality, Foucault posits totalization and individuation as processes of normation, which casts a light upon the relative import they place upon politics and ethics.     

The early history of the neuroscience of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Research on the neurobiology and pharmacotherapy of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has grown exponentially since 1980. A reasonable question is whether this research has improved our understanding and treatment of ADHD. This article describes relevant developments that took place roughly between 1900 and 1970. During this time, the efficacy of stimulant therapy for the disorder was established and the symptoms of ADHD were linked to many possible nervous system disorders including in the brain-stem, reticular formation, diencephalon, basal ganglia, frontal lobes, and cortex. In 1970, the catecholamine hypothesis of ADHD was proposed. It is concluded that early theories about the neurobiologic basis of ADHD anticipated core ideas of modern theory.     

Notes and Comments

A PSYCHOLOGICAL STUDY OF RELIGION. Its Origin, Function, and Future. By JAMES H. LEUBA. New York : Macmillan Co., 1912. Sm. 8vo, pp. xiv + 371. 2S n. Reviewed by W. Crooke.

GEBURT, HOCHZEIT UND TOD. Beitrage zur vergleichenden Volkskunde von ERNST SAMTER. Leipzig: Teubner, 1911. 8vo, pp. vi + 222. 7 Ab. im Text + 3 Tafeln. 6 m. Reviewed by W. R. Halliday.

RELIGIONS M?URS ET LÉGENDES: ESSAIS D'ETHNOGRAPHIE ET DE LINGUISTIQUE. By ARNOLD VAN GENNEP. Deuxième Série, 1909; Quatrième Série, [1912]. Paris: Mercure de France. 3 f. 50. per vol. Reviewed by E. Sidney Hartland.

CHURCH AND MANOR. A Study in English Economic History. By S. O. ADDY. George Allen &; Co., 1913. Demy 8vo, pp. xxx+ 473. Ill. 10s. 6d. n. Reviewed by S. A. H. Burne.

CHANTS POPULAIRES DE LA GRANDE-LANDE ET DES REGIONS VOISINES. Recueillis par FÉLIX ARNAUDIN. Musique, texte patois et traduction française. Tome I. Paris: Honoré Champion, 1912. Pp. lxxxvi + 512. 8 fr. Reviewed by E. Sidney Hartland.

ALBRECHT DIETERICH. KLEINE SCHRIFTEN. Herausgegeben von RICHARD WUNSCH. Leipzig: B. G. Teubner, 1911. 8vo, pp. xlii + 546. Mit einem Bildnis und 2 Tafeln. Ill. 12 m. Reviewed by W. R. Halliday.

NATURSAGEN. Eine Sammlung Naturdeutender Sagen Märchen Fabeln und Legenden. Herausgegeben von Oskar Dähnhardt. Band IV. TIERSAGEN, Zweiter Teil. Bearbeitet von O. DÄHNHARDT und A. VON LÖWIS OF MENAR. Leipzig : B. G. Teubner, 1912. Large 8vo, pp. ix + 322. 8 m. Reviewed by W. R. Halliday.

THE LIFE OF A SOUTH AFRICAN TRIBE. By HENRI A. JUNOD. Vol. ii. THE PSYCHIC LIFE. Neuchatel: Attinger Frères, 1913. [Macmillan.] 8vo, pp. 574. Ill. 15s. n. Reviewed by E. Sidney Hartland.

THE COCHIN TRIBES AND CASTES. Vol. ii. By L. K. ANANTHA KRISHNA IYER. Madras: Higginbotham &; Co., 1912. 8vo, pp. xxiii + 504. Ill. Reviewed by W. Crooke.

THE LUSHEI KUKI CLANS. By Lt.-Col. J. SHAKESPEAR. Macmillan and Co., 1912. 8vo, pp. 235. Map + 4 col. pl. + 19 ill. 10s. n. Reviewed by T. C. Hodson.

THE BOOK OK PROTECTION : being a Collection of Charms now edited for the first time from Syriac MSS. With Translation, Introduction, and Notes by HERMANN GOLLANCZ, M.A., D.Litt. Oxford Univ. Press, 1912, 8vo, pp. lxxxvii + vii + 103, 27 ill. 10s. 6d. n. Reviewed by M. Gaster.     

Crises of witnessing: Edith Thomas and the war years

Thomas, E., Le Témoin compromis (Paris: Editions Viviane Hamy, 1995), 235pp., 129F..ISBN2 87858 062 1

Thomas, E., Pages de Journal 1939–1944 suivies de Journal intime de Monsieur Célestin Costedet (Paris: Viviane Hamy, 1995), 333pp., 159F., ISBN 2 87858 063 X     

Reviews

Sam Smiles, The Image of Antiquity: Ancient Britain and the Romantic Imagination, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1994. x + 252 pp., 128 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–300–05814–4. £35.00.

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Sheena Mackellar Goulty, Heritage Gardens. Care, Conservation and Management, London and New York: Routledge, 1993. 176 pp., 82 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–415–07474–6. £19.99.

Anne Fahy (ed.), Collections Management, London and New York: Rontledge, 1995. xii + 304 pp., 2 figs. ISBN 0–415–11283–4. £19.99.

Annie E. Coombes, Reinventing Africa: Museums, Material Culture and Popular Imagination, New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1994. vii + 280 pp., 112 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–300‐ 05972–8. £35.00.

Lesley Hoskins (ed.), The Papered Wall. The History, Patterns and Techniques of Wallpaper, London: Thames and Hudson, 1994. 256 pp., 185 col. and 157 b. & w. illus. ISBN 0–500–23695‐X. £32.00.