Analysis Of Michel Foucault's Concept Of Discipline

Great Essays
In the year of 2011, a young college student by the name of Alexandra Wallace was brought into the cruel spotlight of society. Wallace was a student at the University of California, Los Angeles at the time. She posted a video on YouTube, complaining about how the Asians at UCLA did not know how to act properly in an American society. She was mostly irritated by the fact the Asians did not know how to act in a library and would speak too loudly on their phones. She is now known today as the insulting girl that went to UCLA. Society was not too thrilled about her point of view on the whole situation. Within a day society disciplined her harshly and caused her to regret her actions. Michel Foucault, a French philosopher was big on …show more content…
Although Foucault lived in the 1900s, his teachings still apply to today’s society. Foucault was big on the relationship between knowledge and power. People took action once they saw Wallace as a threat and they put her in her place. Michel Foucault’s concept of discipline helps us understand what happened to Wallace, because everyone is controlled by society’s norms and expectations. Michel Foucault 's “Discipline and Punish” was published in 1975 and was focused on convincing society that power and knowledge should be treated as two separate things. A chapter named “Panopticism,” however, is about a prison that was first constructed in Great Britain. It was specifically designed with the shape resembling a circle and in the center there was a big watch tower. It was a dynamic method to run a prison due to the fact that only a few guards were needed and all in one key location. All the prisoners could be seen from the watch tower, rather than needing multiple guards needing to check on every prisoner individually. The prisoners were under surveillance at all times, and even if they were not, they were under the impression they were. This all led to effortless control. Later, physical punishment …show more content…
Society was not happy with her and immediately went in to discipline her. Posting the video resulted in the “harassment of [Wallace’s] family, the publishing of [her] personal information, death threats, and being ostracized from an entire community” states The New York Times. Due to these ways of discipline, Wallace took the video down. Society did not agree with what Wallace had to say, however, if she had properly stated the problem rather than mock the Asians the outcome might have been different. When UCLA was asked about their opinion, they decided to stay out of the whole situation. The Los Angeles Times shows that UCLA stated, “While we were appalled and offended by the sentiments expressed in the video, we have uncovered no facts to lead us to believe the student code of conduct was violated.” UCLA saw Wallace’s rant as freedom of speech and nothing was done wrong. Foucault states that the “power to punish…is not the universal consciousness of the law in each juridical subject; it is the regular extension” which shows that authority figures are not really important to practice power. UCLA found nothing wrong with Wallace’s actions, even though society thought otherwise. Society looked to UCLA to take action rather than no participate at all. Wallace ended up having to leave UCLA because the situation was getting out of control. She left with an

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    In the article titled, “Kindly Inquisitors: The New Attacks on Free Thought,” Jonathan Rauch concludes that hate speech should not be censored on campus. Rauch believes that students have a right to academic freedom. He believes that students will not feel free to explore or question topics that may be taboo, if they are fearful of reprimand, limiting their ability to learn about the world during a crucial time in their education. First Rauch argues that gaining knowledge is painful and Knowledge cannot be separated from pain, even the most “scientific” criticism can be painful. For example, Physicist Ludwig Boltzmann committed suicide following criticism of his ideas.…

    • 713 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Should schools be allowed to limit students online speech? I think schools should be allowed because some student may try and take the internet to their advantage. So, what i mean by that is that student will post things on their social media and think nobody can do anything about it. Students will post things on social media about another person behind their back and before they know it they are getting bullied or being laughed at. Students or teachers can be victims of cyberbullying.…

    • 481 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    At the start of the 2015-2016 school year, Chiitaanibah Johnson, a sophomore student at California State University, was sitting in her U.S. History class when the professor allegedly denied that the term genocide should be used to encompass the tragedies that were brought upon the Native Americans. Johnson being of Navajo and Maidu descent especially took offense and decided that in the next class she would bring research to refute his claim. In the next class, the debate between Johnson and her professor became so heated that the professor expelled Johnson from his class. This story made headlines, however, there is still the unanswered question: Should what happened to the Native Americans be considered genocide?…

    • 1710 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    February 7th, 2016 there was a stabbing in Cazenovia, a student of ethnic diversity was stabbed behind subway around 2am. On the 9th, a racially slurred, inappropriate, and hurtful Craigslist response was posted online that went viral within the community and many black people expressed they have not felt safe since. The following day, the campus held a dialogue circle to discuss race and diversity, sadly the majority of people who attended were ethnic minorities and the few white people in attendance were mostly student leaders. In class, Thursday, February 18th, we discussed civil rights, social rights, political rights, and slavery. In lieu of recent events and our class discussion on Thursday it is important to discern the difference between…

    • 762 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Answer the first Questbridge Essay Topic [700-800 words]: “We are interested in learning more about you and the context in which you have grown up, formed your aspirations, and accomplished your academic successes. Please describe the factors and challenges that have most shaped your personal life and aspirations. How have these factors helped you to grow?” How you think you showcase your standout factor: Shows all three of my factors by showing determination and an analytical approach to overcoming my problems and being supportive. Could anyone else write this essay?…

    • 1057 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Annotated Bibliography The use of offensive speech on college and university campuses has been debated about for many centuries. The debated controversy is based on ethnic beliefs that students should be shielded from offensive speech such as racist slurs, sexist comments, and profanities. In many universities and colleges, educators’ and students’ speeches are regulated by speech codes to restrict individuals from expressing hate towards other individuals or matters. Universities and colleges apply speech codes on campus to prevent students or faculty members from speaking offensive words or comments.…

    • 1096 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Relief Sought: Petitioner filed suit against the Western Line Consolidated School District seeking reinstatement because the nonrenewal of her contract violated her First and Fourteenth Amendments. Issues: Givhan v. Western Line Consolidated School District addressed a teacher’s right to free speech under the First and Fourteenth Amendments. Facts: Bessie Givhan, a teacher in Mississippi’s Western Line Consolidated School, went into the principal’s office and expressed her opinion concerning the school’s hiring practices and policies. She believed that the practices were racially prejudiced, and after expressing her opinions, the principal claimed that the teacher made unreasonable and hostile demands. After the school year, her teaching contract was not renewed.…

    • 491 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    In Chapter 3 of “Theorizing race: Examining experiences of racialized families in the child welfare system” by Daniel Kikulwe he focuses on the theorization of race, using power,knowledge, and the subject which is Michel Foucault’s theory. This chapter mentions how race and racism is limited towards child welfare institutions. In chapter 11, “Deconstructing Hybrid Spaces: Internationally Educated Nurses of Colour in Canada” by Nadia Prendergast it talks about educated nurses of colour not having the opportunity to have a leadership position among Canadian nursing. This exclusion of colour does bring trouble under the health and wellbeing and is being affected. In this essay I’m going to explain what the main arguments are in both chapters…

    • 1002 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    On Friday 29th a panel of speakers and a group discussion between students and past alumni to converse their perspective on today’s society issues. Such as racism in America, the divide between the two dominant parties. The event commenced with a professor from Middlebury College, Dr. Allison Stranger, informing the audience the incident that took place on her campus. When the conservative scholar Charles Murray came for a speech and discussion. That day a protest occurred instead of a speech and Dr. Stranger recalled the events that led up to her getting a concussion.…

    • 419 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mizzou Racial Tensions

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Racial tensions at the University of Missouri (Mizzou) have recently consumed media headlines. “Some black students say they are greeted with piercing stares when they walk by white-dominated fraternity and sorority houses” (Eligon, 2015). It all started when student Briana Gray returned to her dorm room and a picture of a black woman being lynched had been hung up on the door. Her roommate replied that her friends put it up as a joke. Ms. Gray ended up attacking the girl and her friends, and police broke up the fight.…

    • 785 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Jacobwitzs

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages

    At the University of Pennsylvania, a student was charged with racial harassment words after shouting “water buffalo” at a group of African American sorority women. Mr. Jacobwitzs claims that it was never his intention for his words to be interpreted as racial harassment words. “… I finally shouted. Shut up, you water buffalo… Then I heard one of them say they were looking for a party…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Richard Delgado is a professor at University of Alabama with expertise in the following civil rights, constitutional law, and critical race theory. He is an author with many journals articles and books written. Richard Delgado wrote an article called Hate Cannot Be Tolerated. In this article he speaks about the limits on offensive forms of speech and is they reasonable. On campus he has seen graffiti and fliers giving to Jewish and Black students at the law school telling them they don’t belong on campus.…

    • 701 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Analyzing the ethical case between Ms. Smith and Wesley helped me gain awareness of ethical dimensions and practices. When Ms. Smiths phone went missing she viewed Wesley as a disadvantaged citizen in an unjust society. The reading does not state that Wesley stole his teachers phone, but educational policies persuaded Ms. Smith to believe so. The dilemma arises when Ms. Smith has to determine whether to follow the zero-tolerance policy or report her phone missing to higher authority. Principles of the dilemma compete because of the values at stake, and Ms. Smith has to determine her line of action to prioritize her student over herself.…

    • 1227 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In the old days, protesting was not permitted. Still to this day, around the world, free speech is not a right offered by each nation. In the U.S.A., however, the government nearly allows for anything to be said. Amongst every given situation, everything has it’s limits. Chanting while protesting are covered in the first amendment under free speech, however, when developing to violence and destruction, that's when that right becomes unquestionably lost.…

    • 1172 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Social Control Through the Guise of Prisons On January 26, 1996, 17 year old Rodney Hulin had used his bed sheets to tie one side above his cell and the other around his neck. He jumped from the top bunk, crushing his windpipe and cutting off the blood flow to his brain. What is equally as disturbing is the fact that Hulin’s parents did not know the true reason behind his suicide.…

    • 2351 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Superior Essays