SOC 7108 Chapter 19: SOC 7108 - Chapter 19
18 Feb 2019
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SOC 7108
CHAPTER 19
FROM GOVERNMENTALITY TO RISK
During the post-war period medical sociology lacked any significant theoretical direction
where its primary aim was to assist general and community medicine in order to achieve
greater patient compliance. The introduction of medical sociology should be noted by two
important developments.
1. The general impact of Foucault analysis of power/knowledge
2. Emergence of the sociology of the body as a analytical means for medical sociology.
In other words, these two developments allowed to push the discipline away from medical
sociology towards sociology of health – epistemology of disease categories as elements of
moral control of individuals and populations based on the movement that the body is in fact
historical.
- This paper seeks to show comparison between Foucault’s Governmentality and Beck’s
notion of Risk Society as they were developed to comprehend the new epidemiology of
disease within post-modern society but creates tensions between macro (risk society)
and micro (carceral society).
Situating Foucault: The Theory of Power
His reception was originally based on his work regarding the history of psychiatry and
the problem of madness within the West. He was associated with the political interests of
minority groups his contribution was perceived as something over-simple towards social
control. His critical work however appeared in the context of the anti-psychiatry movement.
The dominant paradigm of deviance and mental illness was labelling theory relying heavily on
Becker. As for Foucault his work was perceived as a contribution to social control theory where
the mentally ill where a group that sought to challenge basic norms and vales of society but due
to their label were forced into careers of secondary deviance. That being said, his studies of
normalization through medical discourse had some relation to Parson’s Sick Role.
This was further reinforced through his interests regarding the technology of the self as
they only became apparent and adequately recognized until his means of governmentality. He
was interested in the means of social control but it has to be situated in terms of his theory of
power where governmentality can be perceived as a the bridge between the early means of
discipline and work regarding the production of the self in the early world. Thus, it is clear that
he has made three major contributions to social science:
1. Analysis of power and knowledge – useful in comprehending the functions of the
medical profession and the spheres of psychiatry.
2. Understanding the emergence of the modern self through technology – historical
functions of the clinic .
3. Analysis of governmentality. – he tried to challenge Marx concept of power as a macro
structure where the state functioned to support capitalism but he saw power as a
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Document Summary
During the post-war period medical sociology lacked any significant theoretical direction where its primary aim was to assist general and community medicine in order to achieve greater patient compliance. The introduction of medical sociology should be noted by two important developments: the general impact of foucault analysis of power/knowledge, emergence of the sociology of the body as a analytical means for medical sociology. His reception was originally based on his work regarding the history of psychiatry and. Situating foucault: the theory of power the problem of madness within the west. He was associated with the political interests of minority groups his contribution was perceived as something over-simple towards social control. His critical work however appeared in the context of the anti-psychiatry movement. The dominant paradigm of deviance and mental illness was labelling theory relying heavily on. That being said, his studies of normalization through medical discourse had some relation to parson"s sick role.
