One of the leading philosophical thinkers of the twentieth century, MICHEL FOUCAULT was born in Poitiers, France, in 1926. He lectured in universities throughout the world; served as director at the Institut Français in Hamburg, Germany, and at the Institut de Philosophie at the Faculté des Lettres and the University of Clermont-Ferrand, France; and wrote frequently for French newspapers and periodicals. His influence on generations of thinkers in the areas of sociology, queer theory, cultural studies, and critical thinking was profound. Among his many books are The Archaeology of Knowledge, The Birth of the Clinic, Confessions of the Flesh, Discipline and Punish, The Foucault Reader, Madness and Civilization, The Order of Things, and Power/Knowledge. At the time of his death in 1984, Foucault held a chair at the Collège de France, one of France’s most prestigious institutions.

FRÉDÉRIC GROS (editor) is a professor of philosophy at the University of Paris XII and the Institute of Political Studies, Paris. He was the editor of Foucault’s last published collection of lectures at the Collège de France. He has written books on psychiatry, law, and war, as well as the international best seller A Philosophy of Walking. He lives in Paris.