foucault shorts

Society Must Be Defended!

“Mythology tells of how the victories of giants have gradually been forgotten and buried, of the twilight of the gods, of how heroes were wounded or died, and of how kings fell asleep in inaccessible caves. We also have the theme of rights and privileges of the earliest race, which were flouted by cunning invaders, the theme of the war that is still going on in secret, of the plot that has to be revived so as to rekindle that war and to drive out the invaders or enemies; the theme of the famous battle that will take place tomorrow, that will at last invert the relationship of force, and transform the vanquished into victors who will know and show no mercy. Throughout the whole of the Middle Ages, and even later, the theme of perpetual war will be related to the great, undying hope that the day of revenge is at hand, to the expectation of the emperor of the last years, the dux novus, the new leader, the new guide, the new Fuhrer; the idea of the 5th monarchy, the third empire, the third Reich, the man who will be both the beat of the Apocalypse and the savior of the poor. It’s the return of Alexander, who got lost in India; the return expected for so long in England, of Edward the Confessor; it’s the two Fredericks—Barbarossa and Frederick the second—waiting in their caves for their people and their empires to reawaken; it’s Charlemagne sleeping in his tomb, and who will wake up to revive the just war; it’s the king of Portugal, lost in the sands of Africa, returning for a new battle and a new war which, this time, will lead to a final, definitive victory.” – Michel Foucault

Voice over: Joss71

Work Cited:
Foucault, Michel. “Society Must Be Defended”: Lectures at the collège De France, 1975-76. Translated by David Macey, Picador, 2003.