Foucault's Discipline and Punish for me was very interesting and really highlighted the "new" post modern era that the world was entering - Vietnam was ending for the US, France's student strikes were quieting down, and decolonization was almost over. This worked seemed more a reflection of what was and not so much a criticism of the past.
What struck me was the obvious philosophical build up - centuries of barbaric inhuman treatment was replaced by centuries of militarization of discipline and stone buildings and effectiveness - and what and where did that get us today (as in the 1970's). There is almost a sense of "ok...what now? we tried this and look how the world is today."
When Fourcault wrote about the military discipline in chapters Docile Bodies and The Means of Correct Training, as a veterans, there really left an impression on me. The notion of organizing and harnessing the violence of the military, while seemingly obvious, did take years of trial and error to develop a true machine of the state. But, whiling writing about the rigors of the discipline in the penal system and military, I never got the sense of disdain or disgust - more - this is what happened and this is how things changed and developed.
Contrary to many historical writings (especially French) during this time period, I never got the sense of anger from this work. I felt a more unbiased and truly detailed work was put together for the readers. To me, there is almost a sense of - lets find the next step for a better world, together feeling.
No comments:
Post a Comment