Problematics of Military Power: Government, Discipline and the Subject of Violence (Cass Series--Military History and Policy)

This book traces the relations between the organization of violence and social and political order from ancient Rome to early modern Europe. Following the work of Michel Foucault, the author studies the ways authority, obedience and forms of self-conduct were produced by the micro-techniques used to govern the bodies of violence deployed in different forms of warfare. "This book traces the relations between the organization of violence (military power) and social and political order (government) from ancient Rome to early modern Europe. Following the work of Michel Foucoult, the author studies the ways authority, obedience and forms of self-conduct were produced by the techniques used to govern the subjects of violence - e.g. soldiers - deployed in different forms of warfare. These 'problematics' of military power are largely neglected by historical sociology and political history. The book shows how these processes shaped the course of imperial expansion, the establishment of the rule of law, civilization and state formation. The author thereby links some of the central issues of political history to recent social theories concerning the body, subjectivity and conditions of knowledge."--BOOK JACKET