Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison Cover
Podcast Mentions

Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison

Michel Foucault

Text: English, French (translation)

Podcasts 2
Quotes 5
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The Rest Is History

Podcast

The Rest Is History

The hosts described the book's concept of the panopticon, noting how it illustrates the state's constant surveillance and its role in shaping docile bodies.

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And Foucault gets very interested in kind of prisons, state apparatus for repression... the panopticon... the idea that the state is always watching you. So a prison where you are always being surveye...

— Episode: 354: Paris 1968: The Return of De Gaulle...

Episode: 354: Paris 1968: The Return of De Gaulle (Part 2)

The hosts described the book's concept of the panopticon, noting how it illustrates the state's constant surveillance and its role in shaping docile bodies.

"

And Foucault gets very interested in kind of prisons, state apparatus for repression... the panopticon... the idea that the state is always watching you. So a prison where you are always being surveyed. And he advances the theory that the state constructs these apparatuses to generate what he calls docile bodies.

The panopticon... the idea that the state is always watching you. It's an illustration of how power structures create docile bodies.

Philosophize This!

Podcast

Philosophize This!

The hosts discussed the book while exploring how the Panopticon concept has shaped modern institutions and the subtle ways power operates within the penal system. They highlighted its analysis of the transition from overt punishment to more covert forms of control, noting that prisoners often become complicit in their own oppression. The discussion framed the title as a key text for understanding contemporary mechanisms of surveillance and discipline.

Highly Recommended

Episode: Episode #186 ... Are we heading for a digital pris...

Foucault reintroduced Bentham's Panopticon and highlighted its influence on western society in 1975, suggesting that it pervades major institutions.

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Michel Foucault writes a book released in 1975 called Discipline and Punish.

And in it he reintroduces Bentham's idea of the Panopticon and finally gives credit to just how influential this design for a prison has become over the years.

Episode: Episode #123 ... Michel Foucault pt. 3 - Power

This book examines the shift in treatment of criminals over time, from brutal punishments to more humane methods, questioning the narrative of progress and highlighting the potential for power to operate in subtle and insidious ways.

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The prisoners themselves become active supportive participants in the very system that suppresses them.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.