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đŸȘ” The Threshold

Model workers' housing in Lille imposed prison-like moral discipline with expulsion for offenses

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tagsja-picks, xref, seed, addendum, connection_points, trade, singleton, category/connection-points
aliases@foucault_discipline_1975, loc. 575

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Model workers’ housing in Lille imposed prison-like moral discipline with expulsion for offenses

Evidence

Cf., for example, the following description of workers’ accommodation built at Lille in the mid-nineteenth century: ‘Cleanliness is the order of the day. It is the heart of the regulations. There are a number of severe provisions against noise, drunkenness, disorders of all kinds. A serious offence brings expulsion. Brought back to regular habits of order and economy, the workers no longer desert the workshops on Mondays 
 The children are better supervised and are no longer a cause of scandal 
 Prizes are given for the upkeep of the dwellings, for good behaviour, for signs of devotion and each year these prizes are competed for by a large number of competitors’ — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the
, 575

Categorization

  • XREF: Directly extends the reader’s panoptic thesis: discipline bleeds from prison into ordinary working-class housing, just as telescreens enter private homes. — connects to: The prison form preexisted and supplied the model for legal punishment — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the
, 354; Confinement of sanctioned violence to places was meant to circumscribe it — Grégoire Chamayou, A Theory of the Drone, 252
  • SEED: Angle for an essay: the modern HOA rulebook and gated-community fines as direct descendants of the Lille model workers’ housing.
  • ADDENDUM: Supports the ‘Grafting & Growth’ infrastructure argument with a built-environment example of discipline embedded in housing design.

Broader Connections

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