Unpacking Foucault

Mural of Foucault by Thierry Ehrmann.

Michel Foucault (1926-1984) wrote this month's selection, "the Body of the Condemned," as the first chapter of his book Discipline and Punish: the Birth of the Prison. 

Foucault, who was a member of the prestigious Collège de France, wrote interdisciplinary works on diverse subjects including mental illness, medicine, sexuality, and in this case, the criminal justice system.

"The Body of the Condemned" puts Foucault's technique on display.  He starts with primary historical source materials. The first is an account of the attempted execution by drawing and quartering of Damiens for the failed assassination of King Louis XV in 1757, the second a 19th century day log of rules for "the House of Young Prisoners in Paris."

By the end of the piece, Foucault will have used such historical evidence to make a leap into theory. He asserts that by controlling a man's body, you ultimately control his soul.