Foucault’s theories of power, knowledge, and discipline in s…

Read: Docile Bodies, 135-69, especially 135-56. [on bodies] The Means of Correct Training, 170-77 and 184-94. [on disciplines] Panopticism, 195-228, especially 195-209. [on spaces]

Prompt:

Two pages, computer typed, single spaced, 10 point font, Microsoft Word doc file bibliography/endnotes on 3rd page, 1 quote per reading.

In the last third of the twentieth century, Michel Foucault wielded incredible influence as part of the unfolding of postmodern intellectual inquiry. Working in a remarkable interdisciplinary mode (and with a legacy across the arts, humanities, and social sciences), he did this in part through 1) his theoretical alignment of power and knowledgehow power works to produce knowledge that reinforces power, and 2) his historical investigation of the archaeology of knowledge, i.e., the times, places, and ways certain systems of knowledge that we may now take for granted first emerged and were solidified. Part of that investigation involved a series of studies of concepts associated with specific building types (e.g., the hospital and the prison), each with its particular spatial arrangement that exemplified power. However, he also studied human practices (e.g., sexuality) and systems of thought (e.g., reason vs. unreason) that have their own distinctive institutionalization. For our study of the socio-spatial dimensions of Foucaults thought and citing supporting or pertinent passages from the assigned texts by him and Shabazz, consider a spatial context or condition in which you have felt under surveillance or disciplined as that surveillance or discipline operated in and through space, exposing you to scrutiny and conditioning your behavior. In the first half of the essay, frame your personal experience in Foucaults terms and provide a thick description of the social and spatial circumstances of that experience. Analyze the details. Who claimed the power of surveillance and discipline? To what ends? What was the practice that was being scrutinized? Where did it take place and what was its spatial condition? Did the surveillance/discipline make you act differently or even think differently about yourself and your actions in space? Then in the second half of the essay, consider how that discipline (as a means of training) may have resulted in the construction of disciplinary knowledge (like that in education, medicine, sport, the performing arts, etc.) through record keeping, representation, analysis and assessment, rankings, archives, etc. What kind of knowledge was thus constructed? Finally, assess your internationalization of discipline as self-discipline, if in fact you think that is what happened. How can that be understood as positive and/or negative? How is it possible to work creatively with/against the regime of power/knowledge in its social and spatial manifestations? How might you apply these strategies to ethical and effective design?