Why Foucault? provides an analysis of new directions in educational research, focusing on the utilization, application, and development of Michel Foucault’s work by drawing on the contributions of leading international scholars in the field. The essays in this collection go beyond the introductory and expository to explore new themes and applications to educational theory, policy, practice, and politics. This book provides truly international coverage, focusing on recent work in English by leading Foucault scholars in the field of education and also on that by Continental thinkers from Germany and Belgium, all of whom have published extensively on Foucault.

The Editors: Michael A. Peters is Professor of Education at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and Adjunct Professor of Education at the University of Glasgow. With degrees in English literature, geography, philosophy, and education, his research interests focus on educational philosophy and policy studies. He is the author or editor of some thirty books, including most recently Deconstructing Derrida: Tasks for the New Humanities (with Peter Trifonas, 2005), Edutopias: New Utopian Thinking in Education (with John Freeman-Moir, 2006), and Building Knowledge Cultures: Education and Development in an Age of Knowledge Capitalism (with Tina (A.C.) Besley, 2006). Tina (A.C.) Besley is Professor of Counseling in the Department of Psychology and Counseling at California State University, San Bernardino. She has degrees in geography, education, and counseling, and research interests in related areas. She is the author of numerous papers and books, including Counseling Youth: Foucault, Power, and the Ethics of Subjectivity (2006).