Public punishment exists to reconstitute injured sovereign power, not to restore balance.

Evidence

There is more than a desire to establish law and order in this statement; what we see is a hint of revenge depicted here. The Pasha is saying that he takes these offenses very seriously because he considers them an attack on his sovereign person. It is his “momentarily injured sovereignty” that had to be avenged and the public punishment was seen as a way of reconstituting this sovereignty. It does so “by manifesting [that sovereignty] at its most spectacular … [O]ver and above the crime that has placed the sovereign in contempt [public punishment] deploys before all eyes an invincible force. Its aim is not to re-establish a balance [as much] as to bring into play, as its extreme point, the dissymmetry between the subject who has dared to violate the law and the all-powerful sovereign who displays his strength.” — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 675

Categorization

• XREF: Nearly a direct paraphrase-quote of Foucault’s account of sovereign punishment; useful for understanding Mehmed Ali as an absolutist sovereign before the army’s modernizing reforms. — connects to: Public execution reactivates injured sovereign power rather than restoring justice. — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 104; Public punishment displayed excess rather than justice to affirm the sovereign’s unrestrained power. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 686; Public punishment served to reconstitute the sovereign’s injured authority — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 675 (+8 more)
• yield-rescued: below the book’s yield-target cutoff, included anyway for connecting to: Public execution reactivates injured sovereign power rather than restoring justice. — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 104; Public punishment displayed excess rather than justice to affirm the sovereign’s unrestrained power. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 686; Public punishment served to reconstitute the sovereign’s injured authority — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 675 (+8 more)

Broader Connections

• Public punishment served to reconstitute the sovereign’s injured authority #corroborates (0.98) — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 675
• Public execution reactivates injured sovereign power rather than restoring justice. #corroborates (0.97) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 104
• Punishment shifted from sovereign vengeance to ensuring no crime goes unpunished #complicates (0.80)
• Resistance to disciplinary power requires a new right, not a return to sovereignty. #complicates (0.78)
• Modern punishment targets liberty, not bodily pain #complicates (0.77) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 46