Foucault, Discipline & Punish

The excerpts are from Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault, translated by Alan Sheridan.
The focal point is the nature of punishment and the body of the condemned.

Damiens, a regicide, faced a torturous execution:
- Condemned to be exposed in public, tortured with molten metals and burns before being quartered.
- The detailed process includes:
  - Being conveyed in a cart wearing only a shirt, carrying a burning wax torch.
  - Public torture at the Place de Grève with the use of tools like red-hot pincers and boiling substances.
  - His limbs were eventually drawn by horses, a prolonged and brutal process.
Witness accounts detail his suffering, cries for mercy, and the presence of religious consolation.
The account from Gazette d'Amsterdam illustrates both the brutality of the execution and the resilience of Damiens' spirit, expressing forgiveness or appeals for mercy.

Torture was visibly and audibly pervasive in the execution, with the torturous methods highlighted:
- The executioner's struggle with the tools due to the physical resilience of the condemned.
- The reaction of onlookers and religious figures amidst the gruesome spectacle.
Foucault draws attention to the planning of executions, showing bureaucratic and societal involvement.

Shift from public executions to private disciplinary measures over decades:
- Slow changes in penal practices, including torture as a spectacle and the context of morality in punishment.
Introduction of new systems of control: prisons, juvenile reformatories, and workhouses replace public executions.
Discussion around the legitimacy of punishments and the theory behind corrections, highlighting the evolution from visible to invisible disciplinary tactics.

Transition from public executions to confinement, emphasizing societal changes:
- The decline of visible torture in favor of hidden punitive measures that reflect modern morals.
The relationship between punishment and the body morphs to prevent public dissent and maintain social harmony.

Discipline begins to permeate society via various institutional practices:
- Methods are employed not only to punish but to rehabilitate and normalize.
- Institutions like schools and hospitals resemble prisons in their disciplinary methods, systemic surveillance, and control measures.

Introduction of psychosocial methods in enforcement:
- Emphasis on rehabilitating the delinquent into productive members of society through various programs (education, psychological care).
- Punishment becomes less about retribution and more about social utility and reform.

The interconnectedness of punishment and social management emerges.
Institutions develop strategic methods for accommodating various forms of deviation from social norms.
The carceral network reflects power relations that extend beyond mere punishment.

The development of jails reflects economic and social notions of correction, emphasizing systemic transformation.
Ideas from the Enlightenment and industrialization promote revised methods of oversight and discipline.

Foucault assesses the societal acceptance of the carceral system:
- While punitive measures became less brutal, they were rapidly institutionalized and normalized by society as means of control.
Acceptance of public execution transitioned to a more diffuse understanding of punishment ingrained in societal norms.