Foucault And Truffaut: Power And Social Control In French Society :: essays research papers

Foucault and Truffaut Power and Social Control in French SocietyBoth Michel Foucault and Truffauts depiction of a disciplinary society are nearly identical. But Truffauts interpretation sees more room for freedomwithin the disciplinary society. The difference stems from Foucaults beliefthat the social control in disciplinary pervades all in all elements of life and thereis no escape from this type of control. Foucaults work deals mostly with" personnel" and his conception of it. Like Nietzsche, Foucault sees power not as a stubborn quantity of physical force, but instead as a stream of energy flowingthrough all aspects of society, its power harnesses itself in regulating the demeanor of individuals, the systems of knowledge, a societies institutions, andevery interaction between people.Foucault in Discipline and Punish, applies this notion of power intracing the climb on of the prison system in France and the rise of other coerciveinstitutions such as monasteries, the army , mental asylums, and othertechnologies. In his work Foucault exposes how seemingly benign or evenreformist institutions such as the modern prison system (versus the stocks, andscaffolds) are technologies that are typical of the modern, painless, friendly,and impersonal coercive tools of the modern world. In fact the success of thesetechnologies stems from their ability to appear unobtrusive and humane. Theseprisons Foucault goes on to explain equal many institutions in post 1700thcentury society isolate those that society deems abnormal. This isolation seeksto attack the souls of people in recount to dominate them similar to how thetorture and brutality of pre 1700th century society sought to dominate thephysical bodies of prisoners. In Foucaults interpretation freedom from thepervasive influence of "power" is impossible. Because his conception of "power"exists not just in individual institutions of society like prisons but insteadexists in the structure of societ y and more importantly in peoples thoughtsystems, escape from social control is impossible. Foucault in the last chaptertalks about how even the reforms in the system have been co-opted to further thegoals of the state. instead of a lessening of social control Foucault sees thatthe technologies change from the wheels and gallows of the 17th century to thedisciplinary society of the 19th century to the emerging carceral metropolis of thefuture. In this carceral city the dispersion of power will be complete. Thetechnologies of control will emanate from all parts of society, "walls, space,institution, rules, and discourse."Truffauts interpretation of society and its future is much more upbeat.Although like Foucault he sees the technologies of the disciplinary society asinsidious social control mechanisms.