Foucault

Alan McKinlay and Eric Pezet

Chapter 1.11 in Elgar Encyclopedia of Strategy as Practice, 2025, pp 47-50 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: Michel Foucault's most notable works for strategy research were from his genealogical period, which charts how relationships of power and knowledge emerge in particular institutions, most famously in prisons. Just as Foucault described the mundanity of disciplinary power, so SAP emphasises the processual, routine and inclusive dimensions of strategic management. SAP research is consistent with Foucault's notions of disciplinary powers and knowledges and the transition from the personal, sometimes divine, authority of the sovereign, to the rational planning of managerial capitalism. From a Foucauldian perspective, there is a history of strategic reason, which is that of the instruments and devices based on which strategic reasoning is deployed and legitimised. Strategy, which used to be based on knowledge of consumer behaviour, now has more powerful technical means at its disposal to decipher and influence a much wider range of economic and organisational subjectivities.

Keywords: Michel Foucault; Power; Knowledge; Discourse; Strategic reason; Subjectivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
ISBN: 9781035315956
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