Power is not merely held. It flows, embeds, and constructs. Michel Foucault’s most enduring insight might be that power does not simply repress; it produces. And what it produces most crucially are the very kinds of selves we imagine ourselves to be.
In Discipline and Punish, Foucault maps the transformation of punishment in Western societies from the spectacle of the scaffold to the silent architecture of the modern prison. But this shift is not just about cruelty or kindness—it is about a profound reorganization of power, knowledge, and the self.
Panopticism and Internalized Discipline
Foucault introduces the concept of the panopticon, an architectural design proposed by Jeremy Bentham, where inmates can be watched at any time but never know when they are being observed. This design becomes a metaphor for modern disciplinary societies, where surveillance is not always external—eventually, it is internalized.
Today, we do not need guards to obey. We watch ourselves. We self-regulate. We scroll past each other’s curated lives on social media, perform productivity, and share our emotional states in metrics and emojis. This is not just visibility—it is confession, normalization, and discipline wrapped in the interface of connection.
Institutions as Engines of Subjectivity
From schools and hospitals to prisons and HR departments, modern institutions are not merely administrative structures. They are engines of subject formation. They define what is normal and deviant, sane and insane, healthy and pathological. And in doing so, they guide us into becoming the kinds of people we are expected to be.
Foucault’s work shifts our gaze from asking who has power? to how does power work? In disciplinary institutions, power works by producing knowledge: the psychiatrist diagnoses, the teacher evaluates, the warden classifies. These are not neutral observations—they are acts of shaping.
The Paradox of Empowerment
Many contemporary empowerment narratives emphasize authenticity and self-expression. Yet, Foucault cautions us: even the desire to “be yourself” might be produced within a disciplinary framework. The imperative to find your true self can become just another technique of power, another demand imposed by the system under the guise of liberation.
This is not to lapse into cynicism. Rather, it is a call to vigilance. By understanding how institutional structures shape our inner lives, we may find new ways to resist, to imagine, to become.
Real-World Resonance
Consider education systems where standardized testing determines not only student success but also teacher pay and school funding. Or corporate wellness programs that frame health as an individual duty—often ignoring the broader systemic causes of stress or inequality. These are examples of institutional power functioning less through coercion and more through normalization.
Toward a Critical Awareness
Foucault offers no blueprint for liberation. But he offers tools—what he called “toolboxes”—to critically examine the forces shaping us. In a world increasingly managed by data, algorithms, and invisible infrastructures of control, his invitation is to see more clearly, to question more deeply.
By tracing the architecture of power, we can begin to discern its blueprints. Only then can we ask whether we truly want to live inside them.
