Editing Governmentality (section)

{{Short description|Concept in political science and philosophy}}
{{essay|date=March 2012}}

'''Governmentality''' is a concept first developed by the French [[philosopher]] [[Michel Foucault]], roughly between 1977 and his death in 1984, particularly in his lectures at the [[Collège de France]] during this time.

Variously, governmentality can be understood as:

* the organized practices (mentalities, rationalities, and techniques) through which subjects are governed<ref>Mayhew, Susan (ed) ''A Dictionary of Geography'' (Article: Governmentality) Oxford University Press, 2004</ref>
* the "art of government"<ref name="burchell1">{{cite book|title='Governmentality', trans. [[Rosi Braidotti]] and revised by Colin Gordon, in Graham Burchell, Colin Gordon and Peter Miller (eds.), ''The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality'', pp.&nbsp;87–104. |last=Foucault |first=Michel |year=1991|location=Chicago, IL|publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref>
* the "how" of governing (that is, the calculated means of directing how we behave and act)<ref name="Jeffreys">Jeffreys and Sigley (2009) 'Governmentality, Governance and China' in China's Governmentalities,  (ed.) Elaine Jeffreys, {{ISBN|978-0-415-54744-4}}</ref>
* "governmental rationality"<ref name="gordon">{{cite book|title='Governmental Rationality: An Introduction', in Graham Burchell, Colin Gordon and Peter Miller (eds) ''The Foucault Effect: Studies in Governmentality'', pp.&nbsp;1–48 |author=Gordon, C|year=1991 |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press}}</ref>
* "a 'guideline' for the analysis that Michel Foucault offers by way of historical reconstructions embracing a period starting from Ancient Greece right through to modernity and neo-liberalism"<ref>Michel Foucault, 
[http://rauli.cbs.dk/index.php/foucault-studies/article/view/3127/3298.pdf ''The Government of Self and Others: Lectures at the Collège de France 1982-1983''] (2010)</ref><ref>Michel Foucault ''The Courage of Truth : Lectures at the Collège de France 1983-1984'' (2011)</ref><ref>Michel Foucault ''The Birth of Biopolitics Lectures At The College de France 1978-1979'' (2008)</ref>
* "the techniques and strategies by which a society is rendered governable"<ref>''Foucault, Governmentality, and Critique'' (2002) {{cite web |url=http://www.andosciasociology.net/resources/Foucault$2C+Governmentality$2C+and+Critique+IV-2.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=2011-05-19 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110724102830/http://www.andosciasociology.net/resources/Foucault$2C+Governmentality$2C+and+Critique+IV-2.pdf |archive-date=2011-07-24 }}</ref>
* The "reasoned way of governing best and, at the same time, reflection on the best possible way of governing"<ref>Foucault, M., (2008), ''The birth of biopolitics: Lectures at the College de France, 1978‐79''. Palgrave MacMillan</ref>

Peter Miller, [[Nikolas Rose]] and Mitchell Dean, among other scholars, have elaborated on the notion of governmentality.