Summary of Discipline and Punish

Discipline and Punish by Michel Foucault is a book that examines the foundations of modern penal systems in seventeenth and eighteenth-century Europe. It investigates how the method of punishment changed over time, from physical torture to more “humane” forms of control. It looks closely at the development of prisons, the interaction between political power and criminal justice, and the role of psychology in shaping punishment. It also introduces the concept of a “disciplinary society”, where rules and norms are applied to all aspects of life, and proposes reforms that would lead to more enlightened forms of discipline. In doing so, it offers a powerful analysis of the implications of surveillance, control, and disciplinary techniques – and the effects they have on our understanding of justice.