Abstract
The author addresses a theoretical question that has never been adequately answered in either the West or Taiwan: What were Michel Foucault's own views on colonialism? Since the publication of Edward Said's Orientalism in 1978, the application of Foucault's theory to colonial and post-colonial issues has become commonplace. I believe the application has one embarrassing aspect: whereas Foucault's contributions have been widely acknowledged, few can clearly document his personal views on colonialism. I analyze 27 mentions of colonialism in Foucault's writings to clarify his own thoughts on the topic, then further examine colonial discourse by bringing Robert Young's works into the discussion. I argue that too much attention in post-colonial studies has been given to "discourse Foucault" at the expense of "discipline Foucault", "racism Foucault" and "governmentality Foucault."