Post-modernSocial Theory

I.Michel Foucault

   A. What distinguishes Foucault's theory from Modernist theories like Weber is

      1.Continuity/Discontinuity

         a.modernist theory emphasizes historical continuity

            i.society progresses uniformly, consistently and unidimensionally

            ii.Weber can rationalization

         b.Foucault emphasizes discontinuity—what are the ruptures and suddenreversals that    characterize social history

      2.Coherence/Incoherence

         a.modernist theory emphasizes coherence—what holds things together overtime

         b.Foucault looks at incoherence—what are the internal contradictions thatexist at any    given point in time

      3.Explanation/Understanding

         a.modernist theory seeks to explain phenomena

            i.Weber wants to explain why capitalism developed uniquely in the West

            ii.what were the conditions that explain the origin of capitalism

         b.Foucault sees to describe and analyze social realities at various points intime

            i.the issue is to raise interesting questions rather than to explain

   B. Foucault's central concept: "governmentality" and how it changes in time

      1.governmentality—practices and techniques by which control is exercisedover a    population

         a.most obvious is the control of the state over citizens

         b.Foucault is more interested in non-state forms of control

      2. Discipline andPunishment—best example of non-state governmentality

         a.examines penal system from mid-1700s to mid-1800s.

            i.a time when torture of prisoners were replaced by control by prison rules

            ii.most view punishment becoming more kind, less painful, less cruel, etc.

         b.Foucault—system enhanced in its ability to punish prisoners

            i.less negative consequences

               -excited masses witnessing public spectacles were more unruly

               -imposition of rules behind prison walls unlikely to incite a crowd

            ii.more effective

               -imposition of rules can occur earlier in the deviance process

               -people can be taught the rules and thus deters people

               -rules can be taught and retaught to deviants

               -torture likely only after a series of deviant acts has occurred

               -difficult to torture a person more than once

            iii.rules closely associated with rationalization and bureaucracy

               -thus more efficient, more sober, more invariable

               -torture

                  (I)inefficient--can make deviant more angry rather than control his behavior

                  (II)personal—the person with the whip may get into it

                  (III)emotional—for everyone involved—prisoner, punisher, and witnesses

            iv.rules can be exercised over an entire population; torture cannot

               -basedon ability to exercise surveillance

               -not abased on an overarching system of power and surveillance

               -done at numerous independent local settings

      3. 3 instrumentsof observation and control

         a.hierarchical observation

            i.ability of officials at or near top of an organization to oversee all theycontrol with a single gaze

            ii.basis found in the panopticon—a structure that allows someone in powercomplete    observation of a group

               -central tower in a prison

               -computers can tell what we see on the internet, what we buy at stores, what isin our       email

            iii. panopticon is basis for "disciplinary society"

         b.normalizing judgments

            i.those in power can decide what is normal and abnormal

            ii.once defined as deviant, they can be punished

            iii.teachers can decide who is late for class and who is not

         c.examinations

            i.a way of checking up on subordinates

            ii.employs normalizing judgments about what is acceptable and unacceptable

            iii.not just schools, but doctors offices, driving tests, TQM

      4. Increasingdisciplinary power

         a.increasing disciplinary power increases our ability to punish, not decrease

         b.we are constantly watched and judged

         c.punishment not liberalized and humanized; its more pervasive and insidious

      5. carceralarchipelago

         a.the expansion of punishment, or any phenomena, does not gradually and evenly affects allparts of society

         b. rather it "swarms"through society, affects some parts at one time and other parts at    another

         c.as a result, the theories, practices and technologies developed in the prisonswarms into    other sectors of society—schools,hospitals, military barracks

         d.thus more and more settings come to resemble prisons