Reforming Foucault: A critique of the social control thesis

Journal/Book: Brit J Sociol. 1996; 47: 2-6 Boundary Row, London, England SE1 8HN. Routledge ITP Journals. 332-352.

Abstract: Foucault's work on the prison radically transformed the way social scientists conceive the institutional regulation of life. Drawing on Foucault's thesis about the gradual refinement and expansion of mechanisms of control and discipline in modern society, they quickly began to reveal all the micro-powers and technologies of control at work both inside and outside the criminal justice system. it soon became obvious that every attempt to reform society, to give people more freedom ineluctably becomes its opposite - a technique of domination. No matter where or when, it is the same as it ever was - social control. I challenge this thesis by demonstrating that Foucault's concept of power is not only inscribed in practices of normalization, but, most importantly, in practices of liberation. In light of his work on bio-powers and bio-politics, the constitution of the modern subject through power relations is understood in terms of a 'governmentality' that maximizes life. Hence Foucault's notion of power is better understood as a 'mechanism for life' that includes strategies of self-development that both constrain and enable agency.

Note: Article D Lacombe, Simon Fraser Univ, Sch Criminol, Burnaby, BC V5A 1S6, Canada

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