In Michel Foucault’s discourse, actualité is often associated with the idea of “the present” or “the contemporary moment,” but it carries a deeper, more critical significance. Foucault explores the concept of actualité in relation to how individuals engage with and critically interrogate the present as a site of historical, social, and political forces.
Key Aspects of Actualité in Foucault’s Thought:
1. Engagement with the Present:
• Actualité refers to the critical reflection on one’s present moment, particularly in terms of its historical and societal conditions.
• Foucault views the present not as a static or self-evident reality but as a product of historical contingencies and discursive formations. This demands a critical attitude toward what appears as “given” or “natural.”
2. A Call to Problematization:
• For Foucault, engaging with actualité involves problematization—the process of questioning and destabilizing taken-for-granted assumptions about the present.
• This involves uncovering the historical conditions that have shaped contemporary ways of thinking, acting, and being, especially in relation to power, knowledge, and subjectivity.
3. Ethos of Critique:
• Foucault’s notion of actualité aligns with his broader commitment to an ethos of critique, a way of living and thinking that resists submission to dominant norms and practices.
• This critical engagement with the present aims to open up new possibilities for thought and action, challenging oppressive or limiting structures.
4. Relation to Enlightenment:
• In his essay “What is Enlightenment?”, Foucault links actualité to Kant’s idea of engaging critically with one’s own era. He describes it as a mode of relating to the present in a way that reflects on its constraints while imagining alternatives.
• This mode of critique is not about rejecting the present wholesale but about understanding its historical formation and transforming it.
5. Politics of the Present:
• Foucault’s actualité is inherently political. It involves an awareness of how power operates in the present moment and a willingness to challenge and resist it through critique and practice.
• This approach informs Foucault’s genealogical method, where the present is analyzed in terms of its historical conditions of possibility.
Examples in Foucault’s Work:
• In Discipline and Punish, Foucault critically interrogates the contemporary penal system as a product of historical shifts in power and surveillance. This is an example of engaging with the actualité of disciplinary society.
• In The History of Sexuality, he examines how the present understanding of sexuality is shaped by historical discourses of power and knowledge, again demonstrating a critical engagement with actualité.
In Summary:
For Foucault, actualité is not just “the present” but a critical, reflective stance toward the present as a historically constructed moment. It involves questioning how historical processes have shaped contemporary realities, engaging in a critique of power, and opening up possibilities for new ways of thinking, acting, and being. It is both an intellectual and ethical task aimed at transforming our understanding and experience of the present.
