After Foucault’s death in 1984, JüHabermas commented that “within the circle of the philosophers of my generation who diagnose our times, Foucault has most lastingly influenced the zeitgeist” (Habermas, 1986, p. 107). Given that Habermas was for many years one of Foucault’s staunchest critics, this was tribute indeed. Foucault was not only to become France’s most prominent post-war philosopher but, as David Macey (1993, p. xi) has observed, “he … successfully crossed the great divide that separates the purely academic world from the broader cultural sphere”. In order to answer the questions ‘what is it he has done?’, and ‘what significance does what he has done have for an understanding of education and for doing educational research?’, it is necessary first to position Foucault in relation to the dominant intellectual currents of his time.