Conference at Harvard University on Foucault’s Confessions of the Flesh

5 December 2019

In February 2018, the fourth and final volume of Michel Foucault’s History of Sexuality project—Confessions of the Flesh—was published for the first time in French by Éditions Gallimard. This is an extraordinary publishing event since the book was not supposed to have been printed at all. This one-day conference will assess the reception and impact of this missing volume of Foucault’s History of Sexuality. It will highlight the text of Confessions of the Flesh, its place in Foucault’s oeuvre, the context in which he wrote, and the contemporary relevance of this new work. It is far enough away from the Foucault-overload of past decades that it is now possible to freshly examine the enduring value of this influential thinker—a re-examination inspired by the belated publication of his final book.

Organizers
Julian Bourg (Boston College)
Annabel Kim (Harvard…