After reading the article about the human costs for workers in China I started to reflect on this in the context of our readings. It seems to me that many of the changes in how we view bodies as well as in how we structure society may have been sparked by changes in economics. The shift towards capitalist markets and partially toward Marxism and its ideas of people being the primary means of production (labor) seem to be directly related to the changes talked about by Foucault. As these economic changes have happened society has started to view the physical body as something that should not be disregarded, but should be used. Rehabilitation as a concept tries to make a person fit in, I think in order to make them "useful" again. This focus on the body and its possible uses coincides with the rise of economic systems that are focused on "progress" and "productivity". Whether you view it as progress or not, enhanced productivity and the ability to make more and better things are viewed as progress by many in the world.

When we look at observation it is the same way. Factories and the military observed their workers/soldiers in order to make sure they were doing their work. This is all the pursuit of progress. In the factory it is to keep profits high, a system is made where the body is put into use for all the time it is there. It is observed and it is controlled, not allowed to leave and watched so that it must work at all times.

This is of course just hypothesis, but it does seem as if the rise of capitalism, mercantilism, and marxism coincide neatly with the changes that Foucault is pointing out.