Genealogy and History in Michel Foucault

Abstract

This article analyzes Michel Foucault’s genealogical method as developed in his text Nietzsche, Genealogy, History, emphasizing its implications for the practice of historiography. The author argues that Foucauldian genealogy, strongly influenced by Friedrich Nietzsche’s philosophy, challenges traditional conceptions of history understood as a linear, continuous process oriented toward an original essence or final purpose. Instead of seeking metaphysical origins (Ursprung), genealogy focuses on the notions of descent (Herkunft) and emergence, which reveal the historical formation of knowledge, discourse, and social practices as the outcome of struggles and power relations. The study examines how genealogy rejects the idea of immutable essences and transcendent subjects, proposing a history marked by discontinuity, contingency, and chance. It also highlights the methodological rigor required by genealogical research, which demands extensive archival and documentary work. The article concludes that genealogy offers a crucial critical tool for contemporary historiography by denaturalizing dominant discourses and exposing the historical, constructed, and conflictual nature of truth, knowledge, and power.