Soc Essay

Foucault discusses the difference in disciplinary fashions in the actions taken during the seventeenth century plague and Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon building. He begins by explaining the measures taken during the plague and further compares these measures to the separation of lepers from society. While lepers were removed from society in an effort to purify the community, the operations taken during the plague focused solely on the ‘intensification and a ramification of power.’ The town was partitioned into quarters led by an intendant; citizens were not allowed to leave, foreigners not allowed to enter, and strict inspection schedules were followed to ensure the all those turned “abnormal” by the plague were taken care of. ‘The existence of a whole set of techniques and institutions for measuring, supervising and correcting the abnormal brings into play the disciplinary mechanisms in which the fear of the plague gave rise.’ Intendants were able to use the fear created by the plague to foster a cooperative environment in which all practices and disciplinary techniques were adhered to, because of the threatening nature of the plague. The forms of discipline carried out during the plague were essentially a political dream.

Foucault examines disciplinary measures through the structure of Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon building, a building designed to imprison a large amount of inmates without physically supervising them. Each individual is kept in a room with walls and windows that strategically separate him or her from fellow inmates. This ensures an environment that falls short of fostering scheming and trouble. There is then a central tower which all rooms span around, that houses the person in power allowing them to observe and supervise as they please. The central tower’s shadow outline fallows in front on each cell, serving as a constant reminder that they are being watching. The layout of the building relies on disciplinary idea of being seen without seeing....