Discipline punishes the smallest deviations across all domains of life
Evidence
The workshop, the school, the army were subject to a whole micro-penality of time (latenesses, absences, interruptions of tasks), of activity (inattention, negligence, lack of zeal), of behaviour (impoliteness, disobedience), of speech (idle chatter, insolence), of the body (‘incorrect’ attitudes, irregular gestures, lack of cleanliness), of sexuality (impurity, indecency). At the same time, by way of punishment, a whole series of subtle procedures was used, from light physical punishment to minor deprivations and petty humiliations. It was a question both of making the slightest departures from correct behaviour subject to punishment, and of giving a punitive function to the apparently indifferent elements of the disciplinary apparatus: so that, if necessary, everything might serve to punish the slightest thing; each subject find himself caught in a punishable, punishing universality. — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 275
Categorization
- XREF: This enumeration of punishable micro-behaviors — time, activity, speech, body, sexuality — maps almost one-to-one onto the daily infractions Winston catalogues in Nineteen Eighty-Four. — connects to: Discipline produces individuality with four characteristics via four techniques — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 251; Discipline sorts behavior into a graded continuum, not a simple prohibition — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 279; Discipline judges individuals themselves, not just their acts — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 279 (+1 more)
Related
- Discipline judges individuals themselves, not just their acts (similarity 0.87)
- Discipline sorts behavior into a graded continuum, not a simple prohibition (similarity 0.86)
- Disciplinary punishment targets failure to conform, not just law-breaking (similarity 0.84)
- Discipline produces individuality with four characteristics via four techniques (similarity 0.81)
- Disciplinary punishment operates by comparing, differentiating, hierarchizing, homogenizing and excluding rather than by expiating. (similarity 0.81)
- Disciplinary penality is irreducible to the traditional penality of law and eventually invested it. (similarity 0.81)
- Everyday disciplinary micro-practices form the political underbelly of legal norms (similarity 0.80)
- Discipline created a private penal system punishing what state law ignored (similarity 0.79)
- Modern discipline differs by fine-grained task specification, not by punishment severity (similarity 0.78)
Broader Connections
- Discipline judges individuals themselves, not just their acts
#expands(0.80) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 279 - Discipline operates through uninterpreted signals demanding automatic response
#expands(0.80) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 250 - Discipline sorts behavior into a graded continuum, not a simple prohibition
#expands(0.75) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 279