Free Thinking: Technologies of the Self

What do praying, going to the gym, undergoing psychoanalysis, going to gay bars, and being blonde have in common? Using ideas developed by the philosopher Michel Foucault we could say they're all techniques people use to work on themselves in various ways, technologies of the self. It's an idea that raises questions about what we could mean by 'human nature' and the extent to which all identities are culturally constructed. Matthew Sweet looks at this idea in Foucault's work and asks what it offers to people working in the social sciences today