James Ferguson
2013
Ferguson, James
Declarations of Dependence: Labour, Personhood, and Welfare in Southern Africa Journal Article
In: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, vol. 19, iss. 2, pp. 223-242, 2013.
@article{Ferguson2013,
title = {Declarations of Dependence: Labour, Personhood, and Welfare in Southern Africa},
author = {James Ferguson},
doi = {10.1111/1467-9655.12023},
year = {2013},
date = {2013-06-01},
urldate = {2013-06-01},
journal = {Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute},
volume = {19},
issue = {2},
pages = {223-242},
abstract = {Dependence on others has often figured, in liberal thought, as the opposite of freedom. But the political anthropology of southern Africa has long recognized relations of social dependence as the very foundation of polities and persons alike. Reflecting on a long regional history of dependence ‘as a mode of action’ allows a new perspective on certain contemporary practices that appear to what we may call ‘the emancipatory liberal mind’ simply as lamentable manifestations of a reactionary and retrograde yearning for paternalism and inequality. Instead, this article argues that such practices are an entirely contemporary response to the historically novel emergence of a social world where people, long understood (under both pre-capitalist and early capitalist social systems) as scarce and valuable, have instead become seen as lacking value, and in surplus. Implications are drawn for contemporary politics and policy, in a world where both labour and forms of social membership based upon it are of diminishing value, and where social assistance and the various cash transfers associated with it are of increasing significance.
},
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Dependence on others has often figured, in liberal thought, as the opposite of freedom. But the political anthropology of southern Africa has long recognized relations of social dependence as the very foundation of polities and persons alike. Reflecting on a long regional history of dependence ‘as a mode of action’ allows a new perspective on certain contemporary practices that appear to what we may call ‘the emancipatory liberal mind’ simply as lamentable manifestations of a reactionary and retrograde yearning for paternalism and inequality. Instead, this article argues that such practices are an entirely contemporary response to the historically novel emergence of a social world where people, long understood (under both pre-capitalist and early capitalist social systems) as scarce and valuable, have instead become seen as lacking value, and in surplus. Implications are drawn for contemporary politics and policy, in a world where both labour and forms of social membership based upon it are of diminishing value, and where social assistance and the various cash transfers associated with it are of increasing significance.
Ferguson, James
How to Do Things with Land: A Distributive Perspective on Rural Livelihoods in Southern Africa Journal Article
In: Journal of Agrarian Change, vol. 13, iss. 1, 2013.
@article{Ferguson2013b,
title = {How to Do Things with Land: A Distributive Perspective on Rural Livelihoods in Southern Africa},
author = {James Ferguson},
doi = {10.1111/j.1471-0366.2012.00363.x},
year = {2013},
date = {2013-01-01},
urldate = {2013-01-01},
journal = {Journal of Agrarian Change},
volume = {13},
issue = {1},
abstract = {Discussions on land use and land reform too often reduce the land question to the agrarian question. Yet a rich empirical literature in the region shows that producing agricultural goods is really only one of many, many ways in which land is used, and not necessarily the most important. This paper argues that many of the ways in which land is used (often labelled 'social' or 'cultural') are in fact best understood as part of processes of distribution that are a vital part of many poor Southern Africans' livelihoods. An exclusive focus on production as the problem, and more productive agriculture as the solution, blinds us both to most of the things that people, in fact, do with land, and to many of the most important issues facing low-income rural people. Giving a more central place to processes of distribution may help us to see just how much is lost if we allow distribution to be treated as an afterthought to production – or the land question to be reduced to the agrarian question.},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
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}
Discussions on land use and land reform too often reduce the land question to the agrarian question. Yet a rich empirical literature in the region shows that producing agricultural goods is really only one of many, many ways in which land is used, and not necessarily the most important. This paper argues that many of the ways in which land is used (often labelled 'social' or 'cultural') are in fact best understood as part of processes of distribution that are a vital part of many poor Southern Africans' livelihoods. An exclusive focus on production as the problem, and more productive agriculture as the solution, blinds us both to most of the things that people, in fact, do with land, and to many of the most important issues facing low-income rural people. Giving a more central place to processes of distribution may help us to see just how much is lost if we allow distribution to be treated as an afterthought to production – or the land question to be reduced to the agrarian question.
2011
Ferguson, James
Toward a left art of government: from 'Foucauldian critique' to Foucauldian politics Journal Article
In: History of the Human Sciences, vol. 24, iss. 4, pp. 61-68, 2011.
@article{Ferguson2011,
title = {Toward a left art of government: from 'Foucauldian critique' to Foucauldian politics},
author = {James Ferguson},
doi = {10.1177/0952695111413849},
year = {2011},
date = {2011-10-13},
urldate = {2011-10-13},
journal = {History of the Human Sciences},
volume = {24},
issue = {4},
pages = {61-68},
abstract = {Many contemporary uses of Foucauldian modes of analysis to ‘critique power’ (as it is often put) today lead to a rather sterile form of political engagement, in which denunciation (the politics of the ‘anti’) takes the place of positive political programs, and the strategies of government that such positive programs necessarily entail. Attention to some of Foucault’s own remarks about politics hints at a different political sensibility, in which empirical experimentation rather than moralistic denunciation takes center place. This article identifies some examples of such experimentation that come out of recent research on the politics of social assistance in southern Africa, and draws conclusions regarding the prospects for developing a ‘left art of government’.
},
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pubstate = {published},
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Many contemporary uses of Foucauldian modes of analysis to ‘critique power’ (as it is often put) today lead to a rather sterile form of political engagement, in which denunciation (the politics of the ‘anti’) takes the place of positive political programs, and the strategies of government that such positive programs necessarily entail. Attention to some of Foucault’s own remarks about politics hints at a different political sensibility, in which empirical experimentation rather than moralistic denunciation takes center place. This article identifies some examples of such experimentation that come out of recent research on the politics of social assistance in southern Africa, and draws conclusions regarding the prospects for developing a ‘left art of government’.
Ferguson, James
Toward a left art of government: from 'Foucauldian critique' to Foucauldian politics Journal Article
In: History of the Human Sciences, vol. 24, iss. 4, pp. 61-68, 2011.
@article{Ferguson2011b,
title = {Toward a left art of government: from 'Foucauldian critique' to Foucauldian politics},
author = {James Ferguson},
doi = {10.1177/0952695111413849},
year = {2011},
date = {2011-10-13},
urldate = {2011-10-13},
journal = {History of the Human Sciences},
volume = {24},
issue = {4},
pages = {61-68},
abstract = {Many contemporary uses of Foucauldian modes of analysis to ‘critique power’ (as it is often put) today lead to a rather sterile form of political engagement, in which denunciation (the politics of the ‘anti’) takes the place of positive political programs, and the strategies of government that such positive programs necessarily entail. Attention to some of Foucault’s own remarks about politics hints at a different political sensibility, in which empirical experimentation rather than moralistic denunciation takes center place. This article identifies some examples of such experimentation that come out of recent research on the politics of social assistance in southern Africa, and draws conclusions regarding the prospects for developing a ‘left art of government’.
},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
Many contemporary uses of Foucauldian modes of analysis to ‘critique power’ (as it is often put) today lead to a rather sterile form of political engagement, in which denunciation (the politics of the ‘anti’) takes the place of positive political programs, and the strategies of government that such positive programs necessarily entail. Attention to some of Foucault’s own remarks about politics hints at a different political sensibility, in which empirical experimentation rather than moralistic denunciation takes center place. This article identifies some examples of such experimentation that come out of recent research on the politics of social assistance in southern Africa, and draws conclusions regarding the prospects for developing a ‘left art of government’.
2010
Ferguson, James
The Uses of Neoliberalism Journal Article
In: Antipode, vol. 41, iss. 1, pp. 166 - 184, 2010, ISBN: 9781405198349.
@article{Ferguson2010,
title = {The Uses of Neoliberalism},
author = {James Ferguson},
doi = {10.1111/j.1467-8330.2009.00721.x},
isbn = {9781405198349},
year = {2010},
date = {2010-03-25},
urldate = {2010-03-25},
journal = {Antipode},
volume = {41},
issue = {1},
pages = {166 - 184},
abstract = { The term “neoliberalism” has come to be used in a wide variety of partly overlapping and partly contradictory ways. This essay seeks to clarify some of the analytical and political work that the term does in its different usages. It then goes on to suggest that making an analytical distinction between neoliberal “arts of government” and the class-based ideological “project” of neoliberalism can allow us to identify some surprising (and perhaps hopeful) new forms of politics that illustrate how fundamentally polyvalent neoliberal mechanisms of government can be. A range of empirical examples are discussed, mostly coming from my recent work on social policy and anti-poverty politics in southern Africa.
},
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pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}
The term “neoliberalism” has come to be used in a wide variety of partly overlapping and partly contradictory ways. This essay seeks to clarify some of the analytical and political work that the term does in its different usages. It then goes on to suggest that making an analytical distinction between neoliberal “arts of government” and the class-based ideological “project” of neoliberalism can allow us to identify some surprising (and perhaps hopeful) new forms of politics that illustrate how fundamentally polyvalent neoliberal mechanisms of government can be. A range of empirical examples are discussed, mostly coming from my recent work on social policy and anti-poverty politics in southern Africa.
2008
Ferguson, James
Reply to the comments on Global Shadows Journal Article
In: Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography, vol. 29, iss. 3, 2008.
@article{Ferguson2008,
title = {Reply to the comments on Global Shadows},
author = {James Ferguson},
doi = {10.1111/j.1467-9493.2008.00341.x},
year = {2008},
date = {2008-11-01},
urldate = {2008-11-01},
journal = {Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography},
volume = {29},
issue = {3},
keywords = {},
pubstate = {published},
tppubtype = {article}
}