Michel Foucault: The “Institutional Gaze” And Disciplining Subjects



Michel Foucault: The “Institutional Gaze” And Disciplining Subjects

1) Choose an Institution & Norm - CASE STUDY

Case study selected for this study is based on study conducted by Lewis, L. A. (1997). “Shifting bodies: a study of culture in an Ontario secondary school. Queen's University at Kingston”. This work is focused on rules and norms in the in a secondary school in southern Ontario. Lewis served as a guidance counselor and teacher in this school. The thesis, “Shifting bodies: a study of culture in an Ontario secondary school” is focused on the norms and powers and their role of surveillance, documentation and self-regulation in this process. This study also focus on Michel Foucault's concepts about the “institutional gaze”“disciplines” individual subject in our society, norms, and how these perspectives play their part in maintaining discipline. The evidence for the school norms and this study can be obtained from downloading file from the following link http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk2/ftp04/mq20664.pdf

Children learn to follow rules that in library they have to sit quiet and in playground and gymnasium they are allowed to play free, but have to follow rules for prevention from any mishap. In play ground or gymnasium, norms are different than library or classroom, but they have to follow. According to Lewis (1997), in halls and other such places surveillance of students are different than the places where they are under the gaze of their teacher. Thus, “institutional Gaze” plays a major role in making students follow defined rules. The importance of gaze is evident, when the student's do not follow rules properly in the spaces, where they are not under authoritative gaze, while they behave in more disciplined and proper behavior when they are under surveillance. Thus only rules or principles are not sufficient, but there is also need of power, control, and institutional gaze in order to maintain the rules and to make people follow these rules.

2) “Institutional Gaze”: Surveillance and Judgment

On the basis of Foucault's formulation of institutional gaze Roberts (2012) defines the institutional gaze as a body under scrutiny or under observation as Foucault defines it under medical observation. This gaze have certain power and control over the body the unintentionally works to control the object. According to Roberts, “visualization is the only way of knowing about the body” (Roberts 1984). In this case study of school, Institutional gaze and surveillance were observed as the teachers were to perform supervisory duties in spaces such as library and cafeteria in order to maintain order and discipline in these areas at a specific time interval. Another important perspective associated with the institutional gaze and surveillance is “judgment”. The judgment can be to identify the deviation in the behavior of subjects or bodies, with or without surveillance, and to notice how bodies behave or respond to the gaze and surveillance.

Therefore, judgment has close relation with the policies and rule and they are use to define and identify the impact of these rules and control ...