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Michel Foucault<<mee-shell foo-coe>>, a la Shmoop: Disciple, discourse and power.

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<<This video is done bobblehead style; narrator is Michel Foucault (Fr. accent)>>

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Bonjour, mon ami. So nice of you to join me today. I was just finishing up lunch with

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a friend.

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Take care, Celine. I'll call you. Give my best to Rene.

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My name is Michel Foucault, and I am a philosopher and social theorist.

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I am also a singer, but that's really more just something I do in the shower.

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I'd like to talk to you about a few things that I feel passionately about.

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You'll know when I'm getting passionate, because my cheeks get all rosy.

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Trust me... my cheeks get rosy a lot. First is the concept of discipline.

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I'm not talking about parents who spank their children...

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...or leather-clad women with whips and stools.

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Which is what your children will grow up to be when you spank them, by the way.

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Mais non<<may no>>... I'm really referring to disciplinary power wielded by institutions

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that are backed by the state.

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The whole "Big Brother" thing.

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Except... the rules they want you to follow have been deeply engrained in you by these

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institutions...

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...so they don't even need a big monitor with roving eyes to keep tabs on you.

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They know that you are going to automatically turn on your left turn signal as you approach

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the intersection...

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...even though there isn't another car for miles.

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If they wanted to send you in a trance to pick up their dry cleaning, they could probably

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manage that, too.

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The use of discipline has made us mindless, obedient sheep. And that is baaaad.

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Here's another one... and I can feel my cheeks getting rosy already...

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"Discourse." Discourse includes all written and spoken examples of communication.

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We're talking speech, love notes, sign language, vulgar gestures, semaphore... everything.

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But all discourse is tied up to and connected with all other discourse.

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So unfortunately, all of the power hierarchies in society are bound by language, and can't

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really escape them. For example, we use the word "prison" to describe

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capital punishment...

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...and therefore, "prison" will always be the way we think of punishment.

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Because of our limited discourse, we can't really envision escaping these kinds of power

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structures. Last but not least, let's chat about "power"

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for a second.

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Not every type of power can just be recharged when it starts flashing red.

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There is another type of power... the power that so encompasses the human mind that it

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can actually enact a significant change on a person's personality, on their thoughts,

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their feelings...

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Power controls our will. There is the power of the state, which is felt when tax time

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rolls around.

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There is the power of people over one another, which is felt when one demands that their

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fiancé sign a pre-nuptial agreement.

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Power is addictive... and dangerous. It can lead to manipulation and domination.

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And... we're right back to discipline. Well, that's just about enough for today.

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Now, if you will excuse me, I am going to go ice my cheeks.

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