Michel Foucault and Riccardo Massa: Education as a Dispositif

• In Event: (Re)imagining Foucault: New Directions in Foucauldian Scholarship

Abstract

Riccardo Massa was an Italian pedagogist and philosopher of education. His unique poststructuralistic perspective on education had a key role within the italian debate since the ‘70s.
The paper aims to present his work, focusing on the so called ‘educational dispositif’. Massa’s ‘educational dispositif’ is compared to the foucauldian apparatus and its components and principal levels are analyzed. Secondarily, Massa’s consulting model ‘Clinica della Formazione’ is depicted, its aim and utility for practitioners are questioned and its relationships with the ‘educational dispositif’ are discussed. Finally some weak points of Massa’s work are indicated and new lines of inquiry suggested.

Author

• Daniele Sartori, University of Milano - Bicocca