Disciplinary punishment operates by comparing, differentiating, hierarchizing, homogenizing and excluding rather than by expiating.
Evidence
In short, the art of punishing, in the régime of disciplinary power, is aimed neither at expiation, nor even precisely at repression. It brings five quite distinct operations into play: it refers individual actions to a whole that is at once a field of comparison, a space of differentiation and the principle of a rule to be followed. It differentiates individuals from one another, in terms of the following overall rule: that the rule be made to function as a minimal threshold, as an average to be respected or as an optimum towards which one must move. It measures in quantitative terms and hierarchizes in terms of value the abilities, the level, the ‘nature’ of individuals. It introduces, through this ‘value-giving’ measure, the constraint of a conformity that must be achieved. Lastly, it traces the limit that will define difference in relation to all other differences, the external frontier of the abnormal (the ‘shameful’ class of the École Militaire). The perpetual penality that traverses all points and supervises every instant in the disciplinary institutions compares, differentiates, hierarchizes, homogenizes, excludes. In short, it normalizes. — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 281
Categorization
- DEFINE: This is Foucault’s core definition of how normalizing judgement works — the mechanism that makes ‘normalizes’ the precise technical term.
- XREF: Directly parallels the reader’s analytic goal: this is the same normalizing/policing machinery the telescreens dramatize in Oceania through perpetual gaze and standardization. — connects to: Disciplinary punishment targets failure to conform, not just law-breaking — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 276; Disciplinary power produces individuals rather than suppressing them. — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 264; Discipline sorts behavior into a graded continuum, not a simple prohibition — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 279 (+2 more)
Related
- Disciplinary punishment targets failure to conform, not just law-breaking (similarity 0.84)
- Discipline judges individuals themselves, not just their acts (similarity 0.83)
- Discipline sorts behavior into a graded continuum, not a simple prohibition (similarity 0.83)
- Disciplinary penality is irreducible to the traditional penality of law and eventually invested it. (similarity 0.82)
- Discipline punishes the smallest deviations across all domains of life (similarity 0.81)
- Observation, normalizing judgment, and examination comprise the three engines of discipline. (similarity 0.80)
- The norm is what circulates between disciplinary and regulatory power (similarity 0.80)
- Disciplinary power produces individuals rather than suppressing them. (similarity 0.79)
- Both sovereign and disciplinary power pursue the exploitation of others through obedience (similarity 0.79)
- Disciplinary power aims at maximum effect at minimum cost and resistance. (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Disciplinary power produces individuals rather than suppressing them.
#expands(0.85) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 264 - Discipline sorts behavior into a graded continuum, not a simple prohibition
#expands(0.80) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 279 - Discipline judges individuals themselves, not just their acts
#expands(0.80) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 279 - Consent to punishment arises from the carceral continuum, not the social contract
#expands(0.75) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 463