Body of the Condemned: Thoughts on History and Present

So the discussion in class went really well on "The Body of the Condemned." Greg's presentation and the discussion helped me see some things that I didn't orginally see in the text and in society.

The idea of the sovereign shifting the focus of punishment away from simply physical torture to inwardly focused punishment (punishing the thoughts, inclination, and soul) to lessen pity for the criminal is really something. It's true, and makes for great journalism, that people speak out for those who they feel are wrongly pained and show pity, no matter the transgression.

This shift from "punishment" to "rehabilitation" shows how scientific discourse has exercised power over the criminal subjects, or rather objects. While imprisoned, criminals' identities are removed, and the normalizing forces of psychologists and doctors attempt to mold criminals into model citizens with treatment of their abnormal inclinations and workings of the mind. Foucault mentions in his interview on the Dutch television program that we cannot create a set of moral standards based on reason and justice on which to judge people by because he feels that

"the idea of justice in itself is an idea which in effect has been invented and
put to work in different types of societies as an instrument of a certain
political and economic power or as a weapon against the power...one can't,
however regrettable it may be, put these notions forward to justify a fight
which should...overthrow the very fundaments of our society."

The whole idea of what is normal is contrived, yet it holds much power over society. Armando made a good point that we should focus on how the abstraction of punishment has effected society. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the sovereign used fear and horror to control the actions of the people by making torture of criminals public. Now the state has attempted to make itself visibly separate from punishment and has made the punishment itself invisible, causing fear in the minds of society. No one knows what it's like to be imprisoned unless you actually have been in jail. This new fear of the unknown punishment acts as a regulatory and normalizing force. Not only does the state have the ability to manipulate the prisoners, but it has the ability to manipulate the thoughts and inclinations of the masses as long as it keeps this fear alive.

more to come on this later...