Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Sovereign versus Disciplinary Power

In this blog, I explain the difference between Foucault's sovereign and disciplinary power. Also, I mention the ways in which disciplinary power is present and operates in public high schools.
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3 comments:

  1. RenaMarch 10, 2009 at 10:55 PM

    Sovereign power is characterized by ascending individualism and repression. Power is situated in the sovereign. Disciplinary power is characterized by descending individualism and rehabilitation. Power is diffused throughout all aspects of society, not solely institutions (26). In sovereign power the masses look up at the executioner or the sovereign. The public consists of undifferentiated individuals. The individual is the sovereign. Punishment is public, passionate, organized not rationally, and torturous (7). The purpose of the punishment is to instill fear in the public and glorify the strength of the sovereign. Thus, it is intended to affect the public through punishing the individual. It acts upon the body and is carried out by the executioner (16). People are placed on either side of the law. The knowledge it relies on is law. This is similar in part to Durkheim’s stage of mechanical solidarity.
    In disciplinary power the focus is on the individuality of those subordinated. Examples include patients at hospitals, students in schools, and inmates in prisons. Hierarchical observation, normalization, and examination are strategies of power. Power is exercised not possessed (177). Punishment is based on the timetable (7). It is calculated, rational, devoid of physical pain, largely invisible and private, and deprives of rights (9, 10, 11). The purpose is restitutive, corrective, pro-active, and productive (19). It is the rationality of this punishment that is horrifying, not the spectacle. Power acts upon the soul. It operates in people’s “will and their inclinations” (16). Regulating the body is the means to reach the soul. Punishment is individualized and carried out by doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, educationalists, chaplains, and wardens (11). It is not just what one does that is considered in punishment, but who one is. The knowledge this power depends on is human sciences, and norms (18). The individual is measured in relationship to the societal norms. The technicians decipher what is needed to make the judged individual normal. Durkheim’s stage of organic solidarity shares similarities with disciplinary power.
    Today disciplinary punishment is active in public high schools. Students’ days are regulated. They move from class to class at a certain time, have breaks at a specific time, and arrive and depart school at a specific time. They are subjected to surveillance, hierarchical observation, and normalization. Students are made visible and watched by teachers while in the classroom and by security guards while on breaks. Classrooms are designed where the teacher is situated at the front of the classroom, so they can see all students with one gaze (descending individualism). Students are expected to work toward a norm, but are placed in a hierarchy in this process based on their proximity to the norm. Students’ assignments and tests are graded placing them into a distribution of achievement. Different educational tracks such as regular, college prep, and advanced placements are ways to organize into a hierarchy. Positive encouragements are used such as honor roll or special lunches or assemblies for those who do well. Corrective punishment is used. When students misbehave they get detention. In detention students must do their homework. This is a way of forcing them to be productive. Examination is achieved through student records. Every student at a high school has an identification card and a file with records. The records hold their report cards, behavioral status as well as health records, parent contacts and emergency information. Also, any special needs are recorded. Schools render each student a case. They are objects of knowledge for which teachers, administrators, school psychologists, and others acquire information about and use in dealing with each student. Therefore, knowledge is accumulated about each student making them a case and is further used to normalize each student (dual moment) (191). This is how students’ information (visibility) is transformed into power that can be exercised by teachers, administrators, psychologists etc.

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  2. MattMarch 15, 2009 at 7:32 PM

    I like your analysis of the high school. Before, I hadn't thought of certain things the way you've described them. The positive encouragements such as honor roll and special lunches especially caught my attention. Regarding rendering students as cases... did you get your permanent file back when you graduated high school? I remember getting mine and looking through it. I had transferred schools several times so there was tons of paperwork! It's weird... we have files kept on us that we almost never see ourselves.

    I have a few comments regarding your theoretical analysis. First, I'm not entirely clear what you mean by the following:

    "Power is diffused throughout all aspects of society, not solely institutions (26)."

    I'm used to defining and institution as "the rules of the game." This would include the family and marriage, for instance. Was your intent different?

    Further, in relation to disciplinary power, you say: "Power is exercised not possessed (177)." I believe this is always the case, not just for disciplinary power.

    Finally, to expand on the following: "Regulating the body is the means to reach the soul." You might also say that regulating the body constitutes the soul. It does more than just reach it.

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  3. ChristineMarch 15, 2009 at 8:28 PM

    Great job, Rena!

    I really enjoyed your analysis of how power operates inside and outside of the classroom. I didn't think too much about how power was exercised when I was in high school, and your explanations are fantastic. My school also used the honor roll and special lunches as both an incentive and to enforce an act of positive encouragement. The public high school institution shares a lot in common with the institution that I have chosen, the Children's Shelter. The children are often subject to surveillance, hierarchical observation, and normalization. It's extremely interesting how power is exercised and regulated among the children in society.

    Thanks for your insightful analysis!

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