BEYOND HISTORIES OF THE PRESENT

A group of leading critical writers in the school of governmentality s tudies have recently called for a debate over the methodological and p olitical direction of studies of complex modes of government beyond th e confines of the state. This paper traces the divisions within the fi eld to Foucault's ambiguous methodological legacy, in particular to an impoverished theorization of sovereignty. Rather, this paper emphasiz es its centripetal function, within and between nation states, in main taining hybrid forms of liberal rule in the effort to manage the centr ifugal tendencies endemic in a pluralist, liberal order. These modes o f rule operate in tension with the role of liberalism as critique. On the basis of this analysis, it is argued that radical critique within this field is limited, erroneously distances critique from liberalism and would be unduly restrictive for governmentality theorists who wish to perform a more central role as public intellectuals. Liberalism co uld once more be the principal focus for a normatively committed form of governmentality studies, which, in turn, could emerge as its princi pal vehicle for immanent critique and renewal.