another the government always tries to maintain power of its citizens to make sure nobody is doing anything that would harm the state. This idea of power of authority is shown in these three works, The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, Panopticism by Michel Foucault and “Goblin Market” by Christina Rossetti. In The Handmaid’s Tale it was the constant fear of being watched by the Eye and the masters, being viewed by a person standing in a watchtower from Panopticism, or even…
Both Douglas and Foucault agree on the idea that social maintenance and organization started with the same boundary of religion. They see religion as a strong institution that shapes categories and boundaries. These categories and boundaries take life of their own and extend their life. Their continuity is a central organizing factor. These extended lives become social institutions. Moreover, they both agree on how society is maintained and organized. Although these powerful forces of social…
Examining power relations are a fundamental requirement when discerning the affects of sport in particular social environments. As such, the use of sport as a means of social control for Aboriginal youth that targeted change in behaviour, destruction of culture, and reinforcement of Eurocentric values was not a mechanism confined to residential schools. Accordingly, the subsequent section will provide an examination of Aboriginal sport policy developments in Canada and sequentially analyze the…
In Discipline and Punish, Foucault explains how disciplinary power is used to produce subjects who internalize power and as a result, regulate themselves as their own jailors. Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon model is brought up as a prime example of a form of technological power used in the mid- 19th Century to generate this disciplinary power. The model uses a tower which is placed at the center of a circular prison building. From this tower, the wardens and guards are able to view any prisoner at…
Disturbance, nuisance, annoyance: words that are often used to describe the catalyst to one of nature’s most sublime undertakings: the conception of a pearl. As implausible as it may seem, the process through which such magnificent phenomenon develops is triggered by a speck of sand that makes its way into an oyster. The oyster responds by coating the intruder in an attempt to mitigate the pain. This coating, however, serves to amplify the pain rather than alleviate it as was…
When reading both “Foucault and the Disciplinary Society” By Riki Wilchins and “The History of Sexuality” by Michel Foucault the concept of discursive power stood out to me as an important concept. Foucault describe discursive power as the “account for the fact that it is spoken about, to discover who does the speaking, the positions and viewpoints from which they speak, the institutions which prompt people to speak about it and which store and distribute the things that are said”(Foucault, pg…
Historically, films and T.V. shows containing demonic possession have grossed millions of dollars. There are multiple reasons as to why exorcism culture has boomed in pop media. Due to multiple streaming services, and looser broadcast standards, there are thousands of more options for people to upload and watch videos that were once unattainable. These streaming services can range from Ghost Hunters, to the darker more sinister side of YouTube. People can relate to possession, because the threat…
In part three, Scientia Sexualis, of “The History of sexuality” Foucault focuses on power structures of confession and the medical field, Foucault asks “how did this immense and traditional extortion of the sexual confession come to be constituted in scientific terms?”(Foucault pg. 65) Foucault was concerned with how talking about sex became a specific issue in the sciences, especially the medical sciences. Foucault provides an answer to this question with five critical points. In unpacking…
The two theorist that I have chosen to characterize are Herbert Marcuse and Michel Foucault. First, I am going to start with Michel Foucault. Foucault is widely known for shaping the understanding of power. According to Foucault, power is what shapes us as humans. “Foucault uses the term ‘power/knowledge’ to signify that power is constituted through accepted forms of knowledge, scientific understanding and ‘truth’” (PowerCube.) Foucault states that power and knowledge go hand in hand. Foucault…
Jeremy Bentham model called panopticon, is proposed for places where it is ideal to have high surveillance on the occupants and limiting their knowledge of the people watching them. Bentham believed that people better behave themselves when their actions are being watched by an unknown. Bentham explained in an example that a warden served as the overseer and the prisoners the ones being surveilled. The prisoners would be controlled by the deterrence of severe punishment if they were caught.…