What is Foucault's Marx? Foucault's uses of Marx and the diagnosis of the neoliberal present
The present work seeks to problematize and unfold Michel Foucault's statement in his course Birth of Biopolitics, that is, that neoliberalism is something different, that it is not the society portrayed in Book I of Capital, by Karl Marx. Using this specific passage, the work examines more precisely Foucault's rejection of Marx within his course Birth of Biopolitics. Initially, to address the issue, we seek to understand whether Foucault rejects Marxism, part of it, Book I of Capital or part of it, Marx or just part of his work. In this first moment, with support from Sayings and writings and the courses The punitive society and Society Must Be Defended, we evaluate whether, to some extent, Marx subsists for Foucault. Secondly, the analysis focuses on Marx's place in Foucault's analysis of neoliberalism. In both cases, the guiding thread of the analysis is Foucault's reading of the notion of class struggle coming from Marx and some Marxists, as well as what the limits of this reading are. Furthermore, in this second moment, we analyze whether Marx's influence continues on authors who are inspired by Foucault to analyze neoliberalism. Finally, with the tools accumulated in the second moment of the work, tensioning with the reading key coming from Foucault himself, as well as from some of those we call his disciples, we intend to analyze in a prospective way how counter-conducts unfold in neoliberal society, how can this fight against the procedures established to guide others.