Managers, politicians and scientists frequently use the term ‘incentive’ in their explanations of human action. At the same time, individuals in the public and private sectors are now governed with the help of incentives: a bonus is an incentive for the banker to perform in an optimal way; the introduction of market forces in healthcare is an incentive for healthcare providers to use tax payers’ money efficiently; the public availability of information about school performance is an incentive for school administrators and teachers to work hard. In his PhD thesis, Guus Dix examines the incentive from a theoretical and normative perspective by making use of the work of French philosopher and historian Michel Foucault.