Critical history of modernity Michel Foucault (1926-1984) Critical history of modernity

Power/Knowledge

Power/Knowledge Foucault is primarily concerned with the way knowledge and power produce conformity and make individuals more predictable and more “useful”.

Power/Knowledge He notes that power is not merely the ability to keep another from doing what they wish or to force another to do what they do not wish.

Power/Knowledge Power can transform desire so that our own most intimate wishes become predictable, controllable, and useful to others.

Power/Knowledge Power can transform desire so that our own most intimate wishes become predictable, controllable, and useful to others. Foucault calls this power/knowledge hybrid disciplinary power (especially when addressed to bodily practices).

Power/Knowledge For Foucault, this kind of power is productive (not just oppressive).

Power/Knowledge Such power is often intimately connected with and fueled by knowledge

Power/Knowledge Such power is often intimately connected with and fueled by knowledge—as is the case when knowledge of “mental health” problems is used to discipline non-conformists.

Power/Knowledge Such power is often intimately connected with and fueled by knowledge—as is the case when knowledge of “mental health” problems is used to discipline non-conformists (or, for a more subtle example: when “knowledge” of ADHD is used to medically restrain/transform hyperactive children) .

Power/Knowledge One of the first examples he notes is the difference in the treatment of leprosy (17th century) and the bubonic plague (18th century). The former were exiled and the latter quarantined.

Power/Knowledge Question: Where in your own life do you feel the effects of “disciplinary power”—where your desires are shaped in a way that makes them more predictable and more “useful” socially?

Power/Knowledge Question: Where in your own life do you feel the effects of “disciplinary power”—where your desires are shaped in a way that makes them more predictable and more “useful” socially? Where do you see “knowledge” claims fueling or justifying those forms of power?

Punishment Foucault notes that in the 19th century, punishment became less focused on big, public displays of violence to the body and focused, instead, on: The conviction: the act of punishment was hidden and seen as a somewhat embarrassing necessity

Punishment Foucault notes that in the 19th century, punishment became less focused on big, public displays of violence to the body and focused, instead, on: The conviction: the act of punishment was hidden and seen as a somewhat embarrassing necessity Knowledge/cure: Punishment is seen less as a display of State power and more of a means to correct and improve the individual and the body politic

Punishment Foucault notes that in the 19th century, punishment became less focused on big, public displays of violence to the body and focused, instead, on: The conviction: the act of punishment was hidden and seen as a somewhat embarrassing necessity Knowledge/cure: Punishment is seen less as a display of State power and more of a means to correct and improve the individual and the body politic (18, 20) The soul: Punishment seeks to create and then manipulate the “soul” of the punished. Foucault famously reverses the “commonsense” notion of the relation between body and soul and suggests: “The soul is the prison of the body” 29-30

Disciplinary Practices

Disciplinary Practices Techniques that produce regularity and “normality” by organizing/constraining the behavior of individuals in the social body.

Disciplinary Practices Disciplinary societies regulate space (through architecture and other material technologies), time (through the use of timetables, etc) and especially bodily practice (through drills, posture, scrutiny/surveillance).

Disciplinary Practices Historically, modern disciplinary practices first developed in monasteries and religious institutions and then were taken up by early social science approaches to madness, illness, criminality, education, labor, and military training.

Disciplinary Practices . Foucauldians argue we are in a near-total disciplinary society today, characterized by intensive knowledge/scrutiny of bodily practices and desires; ubiquitous surveillance; and an intensive pursuit of “normality” and disciplined conformity.

Disciplinary Practices Question: Where in your life do you regulate your own body in conformity with scripts/rules about normality, hygiene, efficient productivity?

Disciplinary Practices Question: Where in your life do you regulate your own body in conformity with scripts/rules about normality, hygiene, efficient productivity? Are there cases in which you have consented to disciplinary practices not in your best interest?

Disciplinary Practices Have you ever gotten a haircut or new clothes (or maybe even sought to lose weight or otherwise manipulate your body) for a job?

Disciplinary Practices Have you ever taken cold or allergy medicine (or performance enhancing drugs) to be more productive at work?

Disciplinary Practices Have you ever stayed late or worked on ideas for the company on your off-time? Have you ever dreamed about your job?

Disciplinary Practices The question is: How did that institution come to “colonize” our bodies and minds? How did they convince us to give them so much of our interiority?

Disciplinary Practices The question is: How did that institution come to “colonize” our bodies and minds? How did they convince us to give them so much of our interiority? What identity-positions have we come to occupy and at what cost?