Historical discourse functions as a transferable tactic, not an ideology

Evidence

I would like to show you how this historical instrument must not be seen as the ideology or an ideological product of the nobility or its class position, and that we are not dealing with an ideology here; we are dealing with something else. What I am trying to identify is what might, if you like, be termed a discursive tactic, a deployment of knowledge and power which, insofar as it is a tactic, is transferable and eventually becomes the law governing the formation of a knowledge and, at the same time, the general form of the political battle. So the discourse on history 1s generalized, but in a tactical sense. — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 205

Categorization

• DEFINE: Key analytic move: Foucault explicitly refuses ‘ideology’ in favor of ‘discursive tactic’ — a deployment of knowledge and power that is transferable across political positions.
• QUESTION: Why does Foucault insist on tactic over ideology here? The distinction matters for how later theorists apply him to orientalist discourse.
• XREF: connects to: Discourse exceeds ideology by refusing the true-false distinction about facts; Historical narratives function as disguised lessons in constitutional law — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 141; Historical discourse functioned as an instrument forged in struggles over power. — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 151 (+4 more)

Related

• Discourse exceeds ideology by refusing the true-false distinction about facts (similarity 0.93)
• Historical discourse functioned as an instrument forged in struggles over power. (similarity 0.90)
• Historico-political discourse claims partisan truth that functions as a weapon, excluding juridical universality (similarity 0.88)
• War-deciphering discourse is historico-political, critical and mythical rather than juridical (similarity 0.86)
• A homogeneous epistemological field enables political tactical uses of discourse (similarity 0.84)
• Historical knowledge is itself a weapon within the war it narrates (similarity 0.83)
• Knowledge produced by discourse subjects those who are known to power (similarity 0.80)
• Historical discourse divides into philology, political economy, and biology (similarity 0.79)
• History became the discourse each class used to claim its rights (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Historico-political discourse claims partisan truth that functions as a weapon, excluding juridical universality #expands (0.88) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 283
• War-deciphering discourse is historico-political, critical and mythical rather than juridical #corroborates (0.85) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 285
• A homogeneous epistemological field enables political tactical uses of discourse #expands (0.80) — Michel Foucault, Society Must Be Defended, 223