Governmentality Approaches

Governmentality is a refreshing, interesting, and useful approach to the study of politics because it emphasizes the mutually constitutive relationship between practice and theory, and explores the way in which governmental behaviour not only organizes or constrains, but also presupposes and actively constructs its subjects. This chapter provides an overview of the current state of the art of governmentality approaches to European Studies. It begins by introducing the notion of governmentality, describing the historical origins of the approach and its most important conceptual terms and features. The chapter then discusses the major intellectual developments in the field of governmentality studies that have taken place in the years since Foucault's work, explaining the methodological ‘toolbox’ of post-Foucauldian governmentality studies as it is currently conceived. It then concludes by commenting on the continued usefulness of governmentality approaches within European Studies and potential future developments in the literature.