Using or mobilizing Foucault?
choice remarks on eclecticism and trends in educational research
pp. 229-232
in: Alan , E. Paul Hart, Michael A. Peters (eds), A companion to research in education, Berlin, Springer, 2014Abstract
This response to Olssen's chapter examines the use of Foucault's work in research on lifelong learning and post-compulsory education. In commenting on the uses of Foucault in articles published in four academic education research journals between 1999 and 2006, it identifies four main uses. These are, Foucault used: as an interpretative strategy, in eclectic ways, as a means to posing an argument, and as decoration. The findings also suggest that while Foucault's work may sometimes be mobilized in this area of educational research in superficial ways, other have wrestled with how Foucault's work might be used to revitalise critical discourse.
