SOC205H5 Lecture Notes - Michel Foucault, Blackboard, Scientific Method
Document Summary
Readings for this lecture are on blackboard. Crime is not simply a violation of formal law or an objective fact that can be discovered using scientific method: crime is defined through a broad range of social relations. Crimes are linguistic constructions made by official institutions. Critique: there is a general assumption that we have evolved or are evolving. They reject the enlightenment premise: society is evolving. We are not essentially becoming better, democracy and other liberal forms can also be punitive. He worked on the prison reformed movement. There were various revolts against prison, the way inmates were living the way they were treated and this lead to a whole series of revolts and questioning of the prison system. His work on discipline and punishment is influenced by his role as an activist. He became interested in how institutions are forms of power.
