Foucault and Force

Foucault's conception of force compared to Arendt's is more comprehensive and subversive. He explores the idea that force can be a manipulative factor that shapes society. An example of this is the modern prison systems we see today in comparison to the old violent punishment.

The old style of corporal punishment didn't force or coerce people to change, but simply removed those from society that broke the rules. The new system has opened a doorway to a new style of punishment referred to as the correctional system.

Instituting a correctional system of punishments presents the idea that people should not only be shaped to think and act a certain way within society, but if they don't, they will be removed, "corrected", and returned into society. This creates a new system of conformity that once punished non-compliance with death, and now subverts it with shaming, peer-pressure, and society construction.

This new form of power is one of coercive, subversive, and manipulative intent, one that undermines the old form of how society establishes, practices, and traditionalizes norms. It creates an air of forced conformity with no escape. You either keep your head down and follow the pre-ordained path chosen for you, or you spend some time behind bars, then are re-released into society. If you're lucky, you'll learn from your mistakes - you'll learn that to be apart of society, you have to follow the rules or forever be stuck in the system of continual remediation. There is no permanent withdrawal for those that can't bring themselves to conform. In the pre-correctional system of punishment you were either apart of society, or you were imprisoned for life, cast out from society, or worse, killed. Now, there is nothing outside of society. Our culture is a meta-society that spans every stretch of land we inhabit. Today in most western cultures if you become apart of the criminal justice system, you're stuck forever - the only reprieve comes in the form of conformity or death.