MICHEL FOUCAULT: A SOCIEDADE PUNITIVA E A EDUCAÇÃO

Abstract

The present work is based on bibliographical research that has as its main theoretical referential the research made by French philosopher Michel Foucault. In such context, it attempts to aprehend the contributions made by the book Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison (2013), as well as other studies concerning the disciplinary society, aiming to understand the discourses and practices used in contemporary educational institutions. To that end, it has been divided in three chapters. The first chapter attempts to establish a correlation between the nature of this philosopher's archeological and genealogical research with the topic of investigation, outlining the epistemological basis upon which Foucault grounds his studies from a historical point of view, a remarkably important fact in his work. In addition, this introductory chapter aims to explore the process of truth-searching, starting from the story of Oedipus, exposing the history of juridical thought and, consequently, the investigative and punitive forms of those who did not follow the rules under greek law, concluding with a few considerations regarding inquiry.The second chapter focuses on developing reflections regarding a part of Foucault's body of work focusing on the disciplinary society, under the assumption that there is no possibility of a society without punishment and control. Going through the changes on body treatment, from the torture of Damiens until the adoption of imprisonment as an universal punishment regime, follows that the customs of vigilance and control (panopticism) are present in all institutions and are not new, but rather preexisting at least from the Classical Age, not straying too far from education discourse.The last chapter presents the book Emile, or on Education (Rousseau, 2017) as a testimony on the disciplinary society, demonstrating that the ideal of “freedom” as exposed on this publication is paradoxical. Finally, in the conclusion it is deduced that in education discourses are ingrained elements of the Classical Age, not having these constructs therefore any novelty, for in modern education exist discourses and knowledge that work together to transform individuals into useful and docile subjects to the productive systems.