2.17.14- Response to Foucault's "Docile Bodies"

Foucault's idea of the body through the example of a soldier:

Foucault tell use of the soldier and how a soldier transitions from being one of honor to being one of power. He brings up the idea that a soldier overtime, is manipulated in different ways that they can be seen as robots. I think this raises the subject of how over time from the seventeenth century to the eighteenth century, there is the shift in the views of a soldier where it was their physical attributes being noticed then later their actions. 

Foucault's idea of the body " as the object and target of power"

Control. Foucault divides control in 2 ways: mental and physical.. The mind for "submission and use" and the body for “functioning and explanations" 

Foucault's idea of discipline

"Discipline requires enclosure"- the idea that a body is confined in a specific space creates the atmosphere of restriction which furthers the idea of control over a body. Where a body should go and what that enclosure the body goes to is for is effective in terms of the discipline of a body. 

Partitioning-"Each individual has his own place; and each place its individual. Avoid distributions in groups, break up collective dispositions". Furthering the idea of enclosure by dividing that space even more through partitioning- to keep a body focused and not dwell on anything else other than the matter at hand. An example would be a school situation where desks are placed on rows and columns- a student is not allowed to look neither left nor right but instead look straight ahead and the person in the considered position of authority. This is discipline in that the partitioning keeps the mind and the body reminded of its place- where it can and cannot go.

Coding of Space: "Particular places were defined to correspond not only to the need to supervise, to break dangerous communication, but also to create a useful space.”   Again, that idea of controlling where the communication goes- dividing each space for each body and that certain body confined in that space- prohibited from moving left or right.

One’s classification: A body is defined by a rank- a means of identity. A changing space where one’s standing and rank differs. This is one of the only means of individuality within a body.