La Société punitive: Cours au Collège de France

Cours au Collège de France/Lectures at the Collège de France #3

by Michel Foucault

La société punitive Cours au Collège de France (1972-1973) Prononcées en 1973, ces leçons sur la « société punitive » examinent la façon dont se sont forgés les rapports de la justice et de la vérité qui président au droit pénal moderne, et questionnent ce qui les lie à l’émergence d’un nouveau régime punitif qui domine encore la société contemporaine. Ce cours, supposé être préparatoire à Surveiller et Punir (1975), se déploie au-delà du système carcéral, englobant l’ensemble de la société à économie capitaliste, au sein de laquelle s’innove une gestion particulière de la multiplicité des illégalismes et de leur imbrication. Cet essai brasse un matériel historique jusque-là inédit, concernant l’économie politique classique, les Quakers et « Dissenters » anglais, leur philanthropie – eux dont le discours introduit le pénitentiaire dans le pénal –, puis la moralisation du temps ouvrier. Michel Foucault livre par sa critique de Hobbes une analyse de la guerre civile, qui n’est pas la guerre de tous contre tous mais une « matrice générale » permettant de comprendre le fonctionnement de la stratégie pénale dont la cible est moins le criminel que l’ennemi intérieur. Michel Foucault (1926-1984) Il est l’un des plus grands philosophes du XXe siècle. Son œuvre est traduite dans le monde entier. Édition établie sous la direction de François Ewald et Alessandro Fontana, par Bernard E. Harcourt, revue par Arianna Sforzini pour la présente édition

Genres: Philosophy, Nonfiction, Politics, Sociology, France, Theory, 20th Century

468 pages, Pocket Book

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

Paul-Michel Foucault was a French philosopher, historian of ideas, writer, political activist, and literary critic. Foucault's theories primarily address the relationships between power and knowledge, and how they are used as a form of social control through societal institutions. Though often cited as a structuralist and postmodernist, Foucault rejected these labels. His thought has influenced academics, especially those working in communication studies, anthropology, psychology, sociology, criminology, cultural studies, literary theory, feminism, Marxism and critical theory.
Born in Poitiers, France, into an upper-middle-class family, Foucault was educated at the Lycée Henri-IV, at the École Normale Supérieure, where he developed an interest in philosophy and came under the influence of his tutors Jean Hyppolite and Louis Althusser, and at the University of Paris (Sorbonne), where he earned degrees in philosophy and psychology. After several years as a cultural diplomat abroad, he returned to France and published his first major book, The History of Madness (1961). After obtaining work between 1960 and 1966 at the University of Clermont-Ferrand, he produced The Birth of the Clinic (1963) and The Order of Things (1966), publications that displayed his increasing involvement with structuralism, from which he later distanced himself. These first three histories exemplified a historiographical technique Foucault was developing called "archaeology".
From 1966 to 1968, Foucault lectured at the University of Tunis before returning to France, where he became head of the philosophy department at the new experimental university of Paris VIII. Foucault subsequently published The Archaeology of Knowledge (1969). In 1970, Foucault was admitted to the Collège de France, a membership he retained until his death. He also became active in several left-wing groups involved in campaigns against racism and human rights abuses and for penal reform. Foucault later published Discipline and Punish (1975) and The History of Sexuality (1976), in which he developed archaeological and genealogical methods that emphasized the role that power plays in society.
Foucault died in Paris from complications of HIV/AIDS; he became the first public figure in France to die from complications of the disease. His partner Daniel Defert founded the AIDES charity in his memory.

Reviews

[Katelis Viglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered a new "Bible".
A shocking book/lectures.

[Nassos Kontonatsios · Rating 5 out of 5]

Κριτική της εργασίας ώς ουσία του ανθρώπου:

[ ... ] Είνα λάθος να ισχυριστούμε, όπως κάνουν κάποιοι επιφανείς μετα-χεγκελιανοί, η συγκεκριμένη ύπαρξη του ανθρώπου είναι η εργασία. Ο χρόνος και η ζωή των ανθρώπων δεν είναι εκ φύσεως εργασία, εί ναι ευχαρίστηση, ασυνέχεια, γιορτή, ανάπαυση, ανάγκη, στιγμές, τύχη, βία κλπ. Παρ' όλα αυτά, όλη αυτή την εκρηκτική ενέργεια πρέπει να τη μετασχηματίσουμε σε μια εργατική δύναμη συνεχή και ανελιπώς διαθέσιμη στην αγορά [ ... ]

[Kaleb]

Intéressant Intéressant

[Jaycob Izso · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is clearly an early Foucault lecture in the sense that he appears a bit nervous and rushed. Foucault seems to relax in tone as the series goes on, but for the first several sections the lecture comes off as scattered and Foucault tends to skip over some very interesting notes in his folios. The result, at times, is a murky example of several lines of thought that he deals with more explicitly in "Surveiller et Punir" and the 1976 lecture "Society Must be Defended".
This is still an exciting lecture mind you. Foucault's initial analysis of Hobbes and civil war is compelling, and his breakdown of penalties (specifically the death penalty in Section 4) really sets the stage for some of his later work. Much of this lecture also provides as a decent amount of context for Agamben's "Homo Sacer" - probably more than the 1977 "Security, Territory, Population" lecture that is often linked to Agamben's thought.
Section 9 and beyond is probably where the true strength of the text/lecture is to be found. Foucault's analysis of illegalism is quite nuanced and carries forward into an explication of confinement in Section 12 that is not all that divorced from the first third of "History of Madness". The political struggle which Foucault focuses on with regards to confinement and institutional punishment is lovely.
I wouldn't say that this is his most complex or most original lecture, but it does provide a well rounded conspectus of Foucault's thought in the 70's. The sections are remarkably short (10-12 pages) - quite a bit different from the lecture length he adopted around '74. Great read all around, and a fitting conclusion to the publication of the College de France lectures.

[Stanislao Montanari · Rating 5 out of 5]

Vertiginosamente brillante. Una delle analisi più lucide che abbia mai letto sulla società moderna.

“Se ora, infatti, il potere non si manifesta più attraverso la violenza della cerimonia, ma si esercita attraverso la normalizzazione, l’abitudine, la disciplina, si assisterà alla formazione di un nuovo tipo di discorso. Il discorso che ora accompagnerà il potere disciplinare non può più essere il discorso mitico o eroico, che raccontava la nascita del potere e aveva la funzione di rafforzarlo. È un discorso che descriverà, analizzerà, fonderà la norma e la renderà prescrivibile, persuasiva. In altri termini, il discorso che parla del re e fonda la sua regalità può scomparire e cedere il posto al discorso del padrone, cioè il discorso di colui che sorveglia, dice la norma, distingue il normale dall’anormale, apprezza, giudica, decide: il discorso del maestro di scuola, del giudice, del medico, dello psichiatra. Collegato a questo esercizio del potere, vediamo quindi apparire un discorso che sostituisce il discorso mitico sulle origini del potere, che raccontava periodicamente la genealogia del re e dei suoi antenati: è il discorso normalizzante, il discorso delle scienze umane.”

[Sterling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Discipline and Punish was the first book I read by Foucault and it really shaped the way I approach the study of politics and philosophy. This book is an excellent compliment to Discipline and Punish. The lecture here was given a year or so before Discipline and Punish was published and both are a great place to begin with Foucault.

One of the more interesting take always from The Punitive Society is his discussion about how moral vices such as drinking, gambling, sexual relations, etc. evolved as societal deviance to accommodate the needs of the owners of capital. Basically, the wealthy can't have us poor folks enjoying ourselves to the point that we miss work or become lazy on the job, so they created a narrative through moral societies and religion that emphasizes eternal punishment for slacking off on the job here on earth. Foucault does a much better job of elaborating on these ideas, but if my explanation is intriguing then check out The Punitive Society and Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great lectures given by Foucault. I would recommend to anyone who is just beginning to get into his works. The Punitive Society lectures are a great accompaniment piece to Discipline & Punish and seemed much more accesible for someone like me.

[Pablo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Un libro con un contenido completísimo para comprender el rol de la sociedad desde la ilustración hasta la actualidad y como el ser humano forma parte de una red dominada por el par semiológico "vigilar - castigar" desarrollado por Foucault a partir de estas clases, que funcionan a manera de precuela de "Vigilar y castigar" de 1975. Este libro es esencial para comprender el pensamiento de Foucault en relación a los regímenes punitivos.

[Микита Павлюк · Rating 5 out of 5]

Il potere non si possiede, il potere lo si esercita.
Una genealogia della moralizzazione degli illegalismi, di come è stato possibile che una pena come la reclusione e l'istituzione dei carceri a partire dal XIX secolo è stata universalizata.
Testo fondamentale e di una capacità analitica impressionante, ma d'altronde non si può aspettare altro da Foucault

[Blaze-Pascal]

I forgot about this book years ago... and therefore I am unqualified to discuss it. Sounds like a cool book, I probably won't be reading it remembering how convoluted Foucault can be in his lectures. Interesting ideas he brings out but I just don't need to go back to it. for now.

[Eitan Hershkovitz · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Prison has the advantage that it produces delinquency, an instrument for controlling and putting pressure on illegalism, a not insignificant component in the exercise of power on bodies, an element of that physics of power that gave rise to the psychology of the subject."

[Yvonne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Legal systems, punishment and imprisonment seen not as an arm of justice and fairness but as a means of power and an extension of the long hooks of feudalism. Enlightening to see different ways to interpret 'punishment'.

[James Dueñas · Rating 5 out of 5]

La sociedad punitiva de foucoult, es un análisis de los temas de las prisiones, y las leyes penales, gran insumo para estudiar la característica de los Estados frente a este tema

[Hugo Chávez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Algo tan aparentemente solido como la administración de la justicia usando el encierro se vuelva fragil ante el estudio de Foucault

[Matthias · Rating 3 out of 5]

En nu nog wachten op het gigantische Oeuvres Tome II dat ergens volgende week aan zou moeten komen...

[Mills College Library]

303.33 F762 2015