Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault on Panopticon

I would recommend Mark Neocleous's 'Administering Civil Society' (Macmillan, 1996) as one way of thinking through some of the limitations of Foucault's work on discipline, although as Nate has stated Foucault's later lecture series should also be taken into account. On the other hand, in terms of extending Neocleous's analysis of power I would probably recommend Peter Thomas's recent account of Gramsci's notion of the integral state in 'The Gramscian Moment' (Haymarket, 2011). Neocleous is especially attentive to the relation between legal and administrative power and the book contains a whole chapter on Foucault.


On 28/03/2011, at 6:51 PM, Chetan Vemuri wrote:

> I think Elden has written some stuff on alternate models of
> disciplinary power in Foucault's work that F felt were more important
> and useful than the Panopticon. Also, toward's the end of Discipline
> and Punish, F emphasizes (albeit rather briefly) the diverse nature
> and modalities of the various strands of disciplinary power at work in
> our society. See B Harcourt's Carceral Notebooks website and book
> Illusion of Order for his extension of these ideas to contemporary
> forms of prison power, particularly in relation to delinquency.
>
> On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 2:48 AM, Nathaniel Roberts <npr4@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> The paper itself may be premised on a straw man.
>>
>> Did Foucault ever say the panopticon provided a "metaphor of modern
>> society"? It is my understanding that the panopticon is just one example of
>> *an ideal* that was current at a time when great faith was placed in
>> disciplinary forms of power. And it is also one of the examples Foucualt
>> gives to illustrate how disciplinary power works.
>>
>> But, for Foucault, modern society ≠ disciplinary power
>>
>> Disciplinary power is one form of power that operates in modern society. By
>> the time of his lectures published under the title "Security, Territory,
>> Population" Foucault was already moving away from the idea that a
>> "disciplinary" age had replaced a previous age based on "sovereignty"; the
>> disciplines, legal power (or sovereignty) work together in the same age.
>> These combine with a new form he initially called "security," and which he
>> later came to call "governmentality."
>>
>> Nate
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Mon, Mar 28, 2011 at 4:41 AM, Ali Rizvi <ali_m_rizvi@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Hi everyone,
>>> Someone has asked me to post the following query to the group. Thanks for
>>> any
>>> help. Ali
>>>
>>> "I am currently doing an long project (10,000 words) on Focault and
>>> analyzing the claim that the panopticon is a successful metaphor for
>>> contemporary society. I am looking for strong criticisms to such a
>>> claim and was wondering if you knew of any that I could read into."
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Foucault-L mailing list
>>>
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Nathaniel Roberts
>> Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity
>> Herman-Föge-Weg 11
>> 37073 Göttingen
>> Germany
>> +49 (0) 551-4956-0
>> _______________________________________________
>> Foucault-L mailing list
>
>
>
> --
> Chetan Vemuri
> West Des Moines, IA
> aryavartacnsrn@xxxxxxxxx
> (319)-512-9318
> "You say you want a Revolution! Well you know, we all want to change the world"
>
> _______________________________________________
> Foucault-L mailing list



Replies
[Foucault-L] Foucault on Panopticon, Ali Rizvi
Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault on Panopticon, Nathaniel Roberts
Re: [Foucault-L] Foucault on Panopticon, Chetan Vemuri
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