One of the inspiring ideas in the reading is about discipline. In the past, the king had the power to execute the criminals. As time passes, execution is abolished, and the government tends to use more gentle ways to treat the criminals. The way proposed by Michel Foucault is observation. In his idea, a circular prison is built with an observation tower in the center. In this way, several workers are enough for the surveillance of the prison. When the prisoners know they are being monitored, they will behave well. It is important for the establishment of discipline. This kind of surveillance also applies in the asylum, factory, school, and home. In this way, architecture can affect people’s behaviors. Boyer mentioned that in Machine City, a similar surveillance system is built to monitor every citizen continuously during city planning. Therefore, the citizens will have good conduct. Although this system is beneficial to the safety of the city, the citizens may suffer mentally if there are strict rules. If they are not careful on their behaviors, they will violate the laws easily.
Notes
Boyer, C. (1992). The Imaginary Real World of CyberCities. In Assemblage (pp. 114- 127). No. 18 (Aug.). Cambridge: The MIT Press.
Foucault, Michel (1977). Discipline And Punish: the Birth of the Prison. New York: Pantheon Books.
Poon Ho Ting, 3035800904
This reads merely as an attempt to summarise the point on discipline from Boyer’s text with reference to Foucault. There are few misconceptions in your response. Firstly, there are still capital punishment around the world for eg. the US, China, etc., people are still getting death sentence and being executed. Hence, governments didn’t go for “more gentle ways” to treat the criminals by “observation”, there is no shift. Secondly, what Foucault tries to arguing through Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon is control by power over one’s mind. The prisoners may not be under surveillance at all times in the prison but the idea of being monitored by the watch tower in the middle is enough to exert control over them. The Machine City similarly impose such disciplinary system through surveillance technology. Thirdly, on discipline and control, you may also wish to include Deleuze’s concept of society of control as well to make a more holistic view of the text.
Most importantly, as this is a reading response, what is your reflection to all of the above?