Foucault’s interest was power, not torture, contrasting sovereign and disciplinary power

Evidence

But this belief arises from a misreading of Foucault, whose central concern was not with “torture” but with “power,” and consequently with a contrast between sovereign power (which exhibits itself through theatrical displays of tortured bodies) and disciplinary power (which works through the normalization of bodies in everyday behavior). — Talal Asad, Formations of the Secular, 505

Categorization

• DEFINE: Clarifies the sovereign-vs-disciplinary power distinction that is the actual core of Foucault’s thesis.
• XREF: Connects to the writer’s interests in how ritual display of bodies functions as political persuasion (Dido, Lindow Man, sacrifice).