The+Means+of+Correct+Training

__The Meaning of Correct Training__ Foucault’s main point is to reveal instruments of **disciplinary power** that train individuals by exerting subtle and diffuse but omnipresent control. Three primary instruments of disciplinary power are 1.) heirarchical observation, 2.) normalizing judgement, and 3.) the examination. 1. **Heirarchical Observation:** Foucault describes a society where everyone watches others and is being watched by others. This is manifested in our architecture, exemplified by military camps but also seen in other “human observatories,” which are build in such as way as to reduce privacy and increase the scope of one’s gaze into other’s lives. Heirarchical structures of observation (think pyramid structures) do have a head, but rather than resting with the head, disciplinary power is diffused and permeates networks thanks to a structure where the supervisor is also the supervised.  2. **Normalizing Judgement:** Disciplinary systems include judgements and punishments to control domains of time, activity, behavior, speech, the body, and sexuality. A standard is set and must be met or else one is punished. The punishment is meant to be corrective so that, through exercise, one may ultimately reach the standard. Discipline also involves gratification and rewards. The poles of punishments and rewards are analogous to poles of good and evil acts and, as people earn or loose points and move up and down rankings, they are judged as either good or bad people. In this way, disciplinary systems serve to //normalize.// Society’s normalizing judgement and system of penalties and rewards operates in many ways opposite of the criminal justice system (see p. 102 for a complete discussion). We can see the “power of tehe norm” in education and health care systems. Norms at once create homogenous societies at the same time that they atomize, differentiate, categorize, rank, and order individuals within a predetermined structure. 3. **The Examination:** Combines heirarchical observation and normalizing judgement. Examiners excersize power in that they are the observer ho escapes observation. The examination process produces documentation which differentiates an and judges individuals but also fixes norms. Examinations objectify examinees in their individuality while also reinforcing comparitive system of classification schemes. Examinees are “cases” who are not only objectified by subjugated. Note that Foucault’s analytical style relies heavily on inversions, paradoxes, and oppositions. Rather than constructing linear arguments, he deconstructs objects and symbols, articulating insights the reader may either agree with or not.
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