Georges Canguilhem on the Problem of Regulation: Colonialism, Institutions, Medical Justice

Abstract: Philosopher of science Georges Canguilhem is most often construed as France's foremost thinker of normativity. This article approaches Canguilhem's thought from the perspective of a related if underdiscussed concept in his work—namely, that of regulation—with a particular focus on its largely uncommented deployment for the critique of colonial norms. Spanning medicine and politics, Canguilhem's conceptual encounter with the entanglements of imperial expansionism and scientific knowledge is approached as a speculative resource for an ethical engagement with the healthcare legacies of empire, and the hidden dangers faced by decolonial epistemologies in our contemporary.