Foucault argued that today’s society can be thought of as a disciplinary society because of the many technologies of surveillance that have become a normal and routine daily activity. Modern day examples include routine inspections in the workplace, rigorous training in procedures and protocols, and standardized work quotas. Briefly describe Foucault’s disciplinary society and offer examples of his theory from your daily life.
Foucault
Let’s turn to our theorists, starting with Foucault.
He employed two methodologies for studying this new social order:
(1) Genealogy – a method of sociohistorical analysis that focuses on the impact of power on discourse. It further articulates the impact of power on the production of knowledge.
(2) Archaeology – an historical method whereby discursive practices are unearthed … this exposes the evolution of human understanding.
Foucault was concerned with the inseparable relationship between power and knowledge. He turned this concern into an exploration of penal practices and punishment, which he contended are guided by power. One of his hallmark pieces discussed the “disciplinary society” which is marked by the technologies of surveillance and discipline as a normalized part of everyday life.
Foucault is difficult to characterize theoretically. In the 1960s Foucault was tended to be associated with the structuralist theoretical camp. Although later in his life, Foucault distanced himself from structuralism. Foucault has also been characterized as a postmodernist yet Foucault himself always rejected theoretical labels, even the PS and PM labels.
