A Foucauldian Perspective on Ethics and Subjectivation in the Making of History

Critiquing the traditional, linear, causal historiographical approaches prevalent in organizational studies, this chapter delves into Michel Foucault’s ethical period to propose a new metaphysics of history and historicity, inspired in part by Maurice Merleau-Ponty’s conception of “wild history.” Merleau-Ponty’s metaphysical historiography emphasizes history as a dynamic, open-ended process in which individuals are both shaped by their historical conditions and possess the capacity for innovative agency. Historicity is not about the positive location of remote events in completed pasts or anticipated futures. Rather, history is about differences in modes of eventalization that always involve a historicizing subject in historical work. In this sense, Foucault’s late shift from an “asubjective” archaeological framework to a genealogical and ethical focus on subjectivation allows us to redefine history as a field of experimentation in which events not only reflect historical determinism but also have the power to reshape historical trajectories. Foucault’s distinction between “present” and “actuality,” coupled with his conceptualization of “events” and “subjectivation,” serve as the foundation for a perspective that integrates historical determinism with the creative potential for transformation. In particular, Foucault’s “attitude of modernity” appears as a voluntary choice to critically question the limits of the present and to experiment with alternative possibilities. And historicization appears as an ethical necessity. Through this lens, history emerges as a space where difference, rupture, and creativity coexist, opening up new possibilities for freedom and ethical engagement. The Foucauldian “new metaphysics of history” developed in this chapter invites a renewed understanding of historicity as a space where freedom and ethics converge in the making of history. As such, this new metaphysics of history emerges as an insightful approach for management and organizational studies to challenge traditional narratives and foster critical engagement with the past, present, and future.