There's a discussion between Focault and some geographers in
'Power/Knowledge' (1980, ed. C.Gordon) in which Foucault is remionded how=
much of his work is couched in spatial metaphors and analogies. Although=
you say you want to get away from the panopticon, that in itself was only=
a
metaphor for the modern dicipinary mindset and still provides a useful wa=
y
of examining various aspects of society. Foucault's discussions on aspec=
ts
of 'Governmentality' also are of use in seeing how the modern city comes =
to
be shaped as it is increasingly patterned by the concerns of planners and=
social engineers. In discipine and punsih, Foucault refers to the
'punitive city' and a further discussion that elaborates on this
,etaphorical reference can be found in 'The Punitive City' by Stan Cohen =
in
Contemproary Crises, 3 (1979).
Really, many aspects of Foucault's discussion of power are applicable to
the urban setting. I think it's also intersting to note how the city is
changing in the deployment of soical control: instead of the hope of
improvement and progress (slum clearances, development of public leisure
space) the city is becoming more privatised and exclusionary, shedding th=
e
old concerns for the population as a whole (although such concerns often
were only a discursive gloss).
Mark Oldfield =
'Power/Knowledge' (1980, ed. C.Gordon) in which Foucault is remionded how=
much of his work is couched in spatial metaphors and analogies. Although=
you say you want to get away from the panopticon, that in itself was only=
a
metaphor for the modern dicipinary mindset and still provides a useful wa=
y
of examining various aspects of society. Foucault's discussions on aspec=
ts
of 'Governmentality' also are of use in seeing how the modern city comes =
to
be shaped as it is increasingly patterned by the concerns of planners and=
social engineers. In discipine and punsih, Foucault refers to the
'punitive city' and a further discussion that elaborates on this
,etaphorical reference can be found in 'The Punitive City' by Stan Cohen =
in
Contemproary Crises, 3 (1979).
Really, many aspects of Foucault's discussion of power are applicable to
the urban setting. I think it's also intersting to note how the city is
changing in the deployment of soical control: instead of the hope of
improvement and progress (slum clearances, development of public leisure
space) the city is becoming more privatised and exclusionary, shedding th=
e
old concerns for the population as a whole (although such concerns often
were only a discursive gloss).
Mark Oldfield =