Foucault in Brazil

Hoffman reveals how Brazil was key to the development and elaboration of his own ideas on biopolitics and health. His succinct descriptions are a useful introduction to some of Foucault’s key ideas, which he uses to illuminate how they contributed to and were expanded by Brazilians' own intellectual and political activism.

Brilliant and chock-full of insights and impeccably researched historical portraits, Foucault in Brazil is a luminous, indispensable book in a range of fields, and constitutes a landmark for scholars interested in the French philosopher in the continent and beyond.

Foucault in Brazil develops a meticulous and riveting historical account of the philosopher’s trips through that country. Hoffman’s scholarship employs rigorous historical investigation to excavate nothing short of a model of what it can mean to marshal one’s social capital to contest power publicly. This work is outstanding and without peer.

This beautifully crafted account of Foucault’s political activities in Brazil in the 1970s is a tour de force. Foucault in Brazil not only illuminates rich archival details about the philosopher’s support of Brazilians fighting a military dictatorship but also brings much needed nuance to our understanding of how his distinct philosophical approach to power was driven by concrete acts of political solidarity.