Rules, regulation, laws and policies are things we all have to deal with on a regular basis. We all abide by some set of rules sometimes we do not even realize that we are abiding by these rules. Foucault’s theory of power and discipline explains that we learn to govern ourselves by learned social laws. Some rules that we learn of power is that knowledge and power are connect that power changes over time, that it spreads widely, and lastly that power is discourse or knowledge. He goes into detail about biopower that which is power that is widespread it decides who has access to things and it can promote or enable life. Biopower is a technique in which it creates a submissive and controlled population.
Another of Foucault’s concepts is discipline which is used to achieve biopower. Disciplinary techniques are used to mold the body as individual components in order to make the body as efficient as possible; it needs to have exercise that uses repetition to learn tasks that are used to control the body. Lastly, disciplinary techniques are used to manipulate the body in both space and time. The manipulation of space is termed the art of distribution and this doesn’t necessarily account for the individual but rather their place in society and how they’re interactions define who they are. Space also has to have a designated place for certain activities; it must be functional in the way that it can be used to achieve effectiveness. An time is conceptualized as the control of activity. We control time by breaking our actions into parts into a time-table that is meant to facilitate and increase the effectiveness of our time we exhaust time to get as much out of it as possible.
These concepts of power and control through discipline can be seen in many forms. One of the ways that I see it all the time, sometimes I don’t even notice it is happening is at work. We are trained when we get a job to become efficient workers to provide the best service that we are capable of providing. Training can be seen as one of Foucault’s disciplinary techniques through the object of control that promotes exercise or practice to achieve a high level of functioning. What comes after training is the example that I would like to use. For many of us we are conditioned to perform certain tasks for certain jobs. My job has sort of a rhythmic and routine structure. We set up, serve wine, serve food and clear. It is continuous and the service that is provided is practiced every time we have an event until our actions become reflexive almost. We learn to manage our time in a way that is most effective multitasking to make up for time that is lost done one thing or another that has not been done yet. Our spaces are set up so that they can provide the most efficient service set up and organized so that we use up as little time as possible on one task to continue and move on to another until the customer is completely satisfied or the night is over whichever comes first usually the night is over before the client is truly satisfied if they decide to be satisfied with our service. We are disciplined to perform tasks in all sorts of place and the goal is to achieve satisfaction or the purpose of learning disciplines whether its self-conditioning ourselves to follow traffic laws or keep us from shoplifting.