Foucaults Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison - Essay Example

Feudalism refers to the dominant social system in medieval Europe. The nobles held land from the royal family in exchange for military service and vassals. In return, the nobles and peasants were obliged to live on their lord's land and give him homage, labor, and a share of the produce in exchange for a military protection. Consequently, fighting existed between the nobles, royal families, and other kingdoms as peasants scrambled for more land. Regarding the feudalism system, only royal, noble, and middle upper classes received consideration as members of the society. Although the peasants were bound to the land, they did not have any rights. Subsequently, they were referred to as ‘excluders’ to the society. In this social context, any crimes were against the sovereign as the society regarded them honorable. Further, the society intended to instill fear to the peasants through torture and public execution. Such situation was meant to ensure automatic obedience among the peasants. The contextualized punitive powers gave not only pain to the body, but also left terror to the soul. Foucault (p.29) shows torture and public execution as the ‘surplus power’ of the sovereign and a technology of power over the body. Political logic of punishment in relation to the performance display of power considers crime as an offence to the rectitude of those that abide by the law. For instance, if an individual commits an unlawful act, whether they do not cause harm or injury to the individuals, it is an offence that demands reparation (Foucault 47). Essentially, any intervention of the sovereign in a case meant an offense against him. Further, every offence or crime considered as ‘potential regicide’ had an ideal punishment where it constitutes all possible tortures (Foucault 54). Since crime is an offence, punishment, torture, and public execution are seen as vengeance. Therefore, destroying a body piece by piece through the infinite power of the sovereign constituted not only the ideal, but the real limit of punishment (Foucault 50). In addition, punishment restores sovereignty by displaying the infinite force on a body. Consequently, chancellery formed in 1789 indicated the universal idea relating to concerns of execution and torture. The situation was typical to end physical confrontation between the sovereign and criminals. Henceforth, execution became shameful and revolving. In his book, Foucault asserts that on the side of power, where it betrayed tyranny, excess, the thirst for revenge, and the cruel pleasure taken in punishing results in revolting. On the victims’ side whose thought is reduced to despair, is expected to bless heaven and the inherent judges that seemed to have left him (Foucault 73). Foucault argued that, judicial violence exceeds the legitimate exercise of power. He adds that criminal justice should not punish for taking revenge. In essence, the need for punishment without torture should be of great concern as a necessity to recognize humanity of criminals being a measure of punishment and not revenge. In development of capitalism to exploit the economy, it was necessary for the nobles to have more workers and devolve more responsibility to the peasant households. Subjectively, more workers needed to work in the farm and crops in the bid to evade the harsh punishment. Within the continuous economic development, economic contracts, and consensual exchange, both individuals and state had rights and obligations. In Foucault’s opinion, modern institutions such as military, educational system, and the factory, resemble prisons because they create a mechanism of control. He adds that, the way to build and shape these institutions should be calculated and planned. In his book “The geometry of the paths,” Foucault claims that the number and distribution of the tents, their orientation to the entrances, deposition of files, and ranks should be exactly defined (Foucault 171). In this context, Foucault referred these modern institutes as “human observatories” served the purpose to decline privacy and intensify the scope of an individual’s gaze into other people’s lives. For example, at regular intervals an officer’s quarter should be situated so that every pupil has an attendant. Dining rooms should be slightly elevated platforms for the tables of studies inspectors. The situation will enhance visibility on all pupils’ tables for their divisions during meals. In other cases, latrines need to be installed with half-doors, so that the supervisor on duty sees head and legs of the pupils. The latrines should also have side walls that are sufficiently high than those inside so that the students cannot see one another (Foucault 173). The disciplinary institutions are secret machineries of control that functions like a microscope conducting fine and analytical divisions formed around men as the apparatus of observation, recording, and training (Foucault 173). In Foucault’s judgment, modern punishment system is more powerful than the pre-modern one. Since torture requires a secret investigation by judicial authority and a ritual act by the accused. It is a way of finding evidence in which investigation and punishment are mixed. If this pre-modern punishment system brought great harm to the accused and is cruel, Foucault argued that the prison system is powerful and unreasonable. He wrote that, what was an issue was not whether the prison environment was too harsh or too aseptic, too primitive or too efficient, but its very materiality as an instrument and vector of power. It is therefore this whole technology of power over the body that the expertise of the soul fails to conceal or compensate (Foucault 30). The prison system is like the performance display of power. The prison system normalized individuals the body and soul. Consequently, the individuals have to learn how to behave since all actions are defined as ‘good’ or ‘bad.’ Conclusively, the power of prison system is to restore sovereignty and play a role in warning against attempts to be above the law. Additionally, prison system is a powerful tool that shows how punitive power can easily take control over body and soul of the humans. Work Cited Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. New York: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Read More