Comparison and Contrast between the Disciplined and Controlled Societies

Sociology Theorizing

Introduction
According to Deleuze disciplinary societies existed in the 18th and the 19th centuries. He explains that these societies were located by Foucault. Deleuze explained that the disciplinary societies were much evidenced in the 20th century which according to him was the time when the practice reached its peak. According to him in this system the individuals were operating enclosed environments. Such environments were having the laws to be followed closely by the people. These enclosed environments included the family, the school, the barracks, and the factory and the hospital that people would visit from time to time. Still another enclosed environment was the prison which was seen as an analogical model of laborers who were treated as prisoners. He uses the exclamations of the heroine of Rossellini’s Europa ’51 whom at the sight of some laborers was reported to have thought that she was seeing convicts.
Analyzing such environments enclosure in the context of a factory Foucault explained that the major goals of a factory is to concentrate, distribute in space, order in time, compose a force of production within the dimensions of both space and time to ensure grater effect than that of the sum of its component forces.

Comparison and Contrast of the Disciplined Society with Controlled Society
In discipline societies an individual passes through different enclosures which can be described as independent variables. Here one is suppose to start from zero each time i.e. from the family, to the school, then to the factory and the army and in many instances the prison. In disciplinary societies the enclosures can therefore be described as molds and distinct castings. This is different in the case of control societies where the enclosures are seen as a modulation that will continuously change from time to time. Delueze compares the control societies to a self deforming cast or a sieve with a transmuting mesh. This was majorly observed in the payment of the salaries. The factory is seen here as a body whose internal forces are operating at an equilibrium. This equilibrium is maintaining the highest possible terms of production while at the same time paying the lowest possible wages.
While in the disciplinary societies there is the factory and a corporation in which the members are only given some bonuses, in control societies, the factory has fully been replaced by the corporation. The corporation here is described as a gas or a spirit and it imposes modulation on salaries. This was done by the corporation especially during the moments it was facing challenges or contests and during humorous group sessions. Even the television shows success was measured in terms of how précised it measured the state of the corporation.
While in the discipline societies the individuals were constituted by the factories as a single body to the double advantage of the boss and the unions, in the control society the corporation formulated the brashest rivalry as the healthy form of emulation. Therefore in the disciplinary societies the factory boss was always responsible for the survey of each element within the mass while the unions mobilized a mass resistance. This is contrary to the practice in the control societies where the brashest rivalry policy acted both to motivate the individuals as well as making them to accept the divide and rule policy. Therefore in the control society the individuals were divided against one another to their own disadvantage. At the same time salary according to merit principle was also used as the modulating principle in the control societies.
In the disciplinary societies, the school system is a very key and act as one of the enclosure and a pathway from the family to the barracks. This is not the case in the control societies as the school system is replaced by the perpetual training and the examination is further replaced by continuous control. However those who believe in the disciplinary system see this as a way by which the control societies want to deliver the schools to the corporation which has replaced the school systems.
In the disciplinary societies one was always seen to be starting again and again. Here, from the family one would move to the school while from the school one was always looking forward to move to the barracks and then to the factory. Contrary to this, in the control societies, one is seen to continue with all the stages. Here there is coexistence of the corporation, the education system and the armed services in the same modulation as is seen in a universal system of deformation.
Differences as portrayed in the Trial of Kafka
In Deleuze’s work the Trial, Kafka, is seen as a good example in describing the most fearsome or the juridical forms. Kafka was seen to be at the pivotal point between the disciplinary societies and the control societies. Disciplinary societies were seen to exist between two incarcerations the societies of control were perceived to be in continuous variation in form of limitless postponement. At this state people therefore experienced two different forms of juridical life. Therefore, any hesitation in the law or any form of crisis was explained in this context of straggling to leave one system in order to enter into another system.
The disciplinary society was understood to have two poles one representing the individual i.e. the signature and another representing the position of the individual within a mass i.e. the administrative numeration or the number. It is therefore good to note that in the disciplinary society the two were compatible, while at the same time power was seen to individualize and masses together. I.e. it entails those on whom it exercises power into a body as well as molding the individuality of each member of the body. On the other hand the Foucault is seen as the origin of this double charge in the pastoral power of the priest, the flock and each of his animals while its civil power is seen to move in turn by other means to make itself lay “priest”.
While in the societies of control both the signature and the number no longer matters and instead there is a code which is seen as password, the use of watchwords is seen as a mechanism of control in the disciplinary societies. Therefore in the disciplinary societies much emphasis is put on integration and not resistance. This is also contrary to the use of the numerical language of control made of cords which either allows or disallows one to access the information.
Dueleuze has also used the money concept to explain this difference between the two societies. He says that while control relates to the floating rates of exchange modulated according to an already established set of standard currencies, discipline can be seen as minted money that locks gold in a numerical standard. In this model, the animal of the enclosure is represented by the old monetary mole in the disciplinary societies while the serpent represents that of the societies of control.
The differences as explained in Moles and the serpent model
In Delueze’s model of the mole and the serpent, he explains that the society has passed from one animal to the other from the mole to the serpent. This according to him is depicted both in our life systems, manner of living and in the way in which we relate with others. In this model of the mole and the serpent, Deleuze explains that the disciplinary man was known to be a producing his energy discontinuously while the man of control is observed to be in continuous network in orbit. He explains that the sports that used to be the major recreational activity has been replaced by surfing.
The differences based on the machines used in the society.
Deleuze explains that today societies can easily be categorized based on the kind of machines that they posses. He explained that the old societies of sovereignty used such simple machines as levers, pulleys and clocks while the today’s disciplinary societies with the energy involving machines, pose some a level of danger. The societies of control on the other side are seen to operate third type machines. These arte majorly computers whose major danger is piracy and the inversion by viruses while its passive danger is that of jamming which may occur from time to time.
Transition from the Sovereignty to the Disciplinary and Then to the Control
Foucault also explained that this model succeeded the one of the sovereign societies. He explained that the sovereign societies had different goals and functions. The sovereign societies were focused to collecting tax instead of organizing for production of goods. They society was also not committed to administer life but would rather rule on death an example of such society is the city of Paris where the convicts were subjected to fatal punishments. He explained that this transition from the sovereign societies to disciplinary societies was gradual and was largely a contribution of Napoleon.
After this transition, the disciplines underwent a crisis that was seen as a benefit to the gradually instituted new forces. These forces greatly expanded after the World War II resulting into the end of a disciplinary society. This is because the transition brought crisis to all the enclosed systems of the disciplinary societies beginning from the family which was seen to be an interior in crisis. During this time there were many reforms being proposed and announced by administrations in place. These reforms targeted schools, hospitals, industries, the armed forces and the prisons. He explained that by this time it was evidenced that these institutions were no longer going to be effective or even to exist for long before their collapse.
The collapse of this institution gave birth to the society of control which according to Deulueze is slowly replacing the society of discipline. The concept “Control”, is a term proposed by Burroughs as the name for the new monster which is recognized by Foucault as their immediate future.
This according to Paul Virilio has resulted into the replacement of the old discipline with its operation of the closed system by several forms of free floating control. In the new resulting regimes, liberating and enslaving was always seen to confront one another. At the hospital, for example, neighborhood clinics, day care and the hospices that were put in place could make one have hope while at the same time they were also to be used as the mechanisms of control. They were used as the new weapons to provide even more harsh forms of confinements. An example of this was seen in Paris where upon the end of the error or brutal punishment festivals, the new priest established the children’s prison where the children were enclosed as a form of punishment.
Evolution of capitalism through the various societies The evolution of societies was majorly seen as the gradual role of capitalism in the various societies. The 19th century capitalism was seen as the age of concentration for both production and for property. At this level the place of enclosure was therefore the factory. The capitalists were the owner of the means of production and the spaces such as the workers familial house and the school. During this stage specialization, colonization and lowering of the production cost were the major forces controlling the market. This therefore represented a perfect disciplinary system where the factory system was active.
Deleuze explains that this is contrary to the present situation where capitalism is now relegated to the Third World and is no longer involved in the production. Under this arrangement the Third World is therefore responsible for the production of a variety of goods ranging from textiles, metallurgies, and oil. This he describes as the capitalism of high order production. At this level the focus of capitalism is on the buying of the finished products or assembling the parts and not on the buying of the raw materials or the selling of the finished products. At this point there is the selling of service and the buying of stocks. This is therefore capitalism for the product and not for production. I.e. concerned with how the product can either be sold or marketed.
Here the factory has given way to the corporation and the family, the school; the army is no longer the distinct analogical spaces that determine ownership or power. They instead represent figures of a single corporation that only has stakeholders. Here the banks have taken over the work of arts. The control of the conquest of the market are gained by control and not disciplinary trainings, fixing the exchange rates much more than lowering costs and finally by transforming the product rather than specializing on production. This is a perfect example of a control society. This level is marked with increased rate of corruption; marketing is seen as the “soul” to the corporation. At this level market operation becomes the instrument for social control.
Control societies are characterized by short term and also of rapid and of rapid rates of turn over. It is also continuous and has no limit while discipline was of long duration, infinite and discontinuous. Delueze there concludes that man is now no longer enclosed but is in debt.
A Case Study; the Church of Paris
The author of this article uses the happenings in this society to explain the transformation that have occurred in these societies. The story reveals the brutal form of punishment that was used by the church of parish in the 1750’s which the authority was. The story begins by telling the story of the process of the punishment given to Damiens who was dammed the regicide. He passed through very brutal forms of punishment including being walked naked along streets holding a touch of a burning wax. After this, his flesh was torn from different parts of the body and the wounds subjected to a burning sulfur, lead, oil and wax. His body was then consumed by fire and burned to ashes as per the decree of the land. This practice was dammed a festival celebration and was the form of punishment employed against the people.
During such torments one was not to utter any word of blasphemy but was to say words like “My God have pity on me, Jesus help me”. He many a times could kiss the crucifix held out to him as was the practice.
A change was seen eight years later when Leon Faucher drew up his new rules so send the young Paris to prison. This was a form of disciplinary society as the prison acted as an enclosed environment to the young Paris. At certain at 11:00 am of the day the prisoners were also to go to the school. The factory in this context was also represented by the workshops which they attended at one o’clock and worked till four o’clock in the evening.
However, the beginning of 19th century marked a transformation in both Europe and the United States. They began to execute punishments that were less immediately physical kind. A few decades later there was complete disappearance of torture, dismembered, imputed form of body and such form of punishments. At this time the festival of punishment was dying out. Like in France the Amende honorable was abolished in 1791 while in England Pillory was abolished in 1837. Today one no longer touched the body, or at least as little as possible, and then only to reach something other than the body itself. It might be objected that imprisonment, confinement, forced labor, penal servitude, prohibition from entering certain areas, deportation — which have occupied s important a place in modern penal systems.
The Relevance of the Study
It is right to say either type of the society cannot exist in isolation i.e. even though the control is being substituted by disciplinary measures including the disciplinary enclosed environments, it is good to note that older methods borrowed from the former societies of sovereignty, will with minimum modification find their way back. Deleuze gives an example with the prison system. He explains that in the prison system there is an attempt to substitute the initial kind of penalties for petty crimes i.e. where one is forced to stay at his home for a given duration through the use of electric collars. For the school system, there is continuous of research by the universities.
Corporation has also been introduced at all levels of schooling. For the hospitals system, there is a medicine, “without doctor or patient”, that singles out both the sick and those considered being at risk. This system is therefore not direct to an individual as proclaimed but the individual is substituted for the numerical body coded as “dividual” which represent a material to be controlled. In the corporate system, there is invention of the new forms of handling the money, profits and the human resource to ensure that they do not pass through the factory. These reasons points to the new systems of domination. Deleuze in his summary says that better the coiling of the molehill than the coils of a serpent.
In conclusion, there is question on whether the discipline society will be able to withstand the pressure for the need of change from the control society or they will give in. From the discussion it is also upon the present young generation who seem motivated to request for apprenticeships and some permanent kind of trainings. This would prepare them to serve others and therefore be the beneficiaries of the discipline. References
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Foucault, Michel. 1995. Discipline and punish: the birth of the prison. Westminster, USA: Vintage.
Gilles, Deleuze. 2004. Re-thinking Architecture: a reading in cultural theory. New York. Routledge.
Mansfield, Nick. 2000. Theories of self from Freud to Haraway. New York: New York University Press.
May, Todd. 2005. An introduction. New York, Cambridge University Press, pp. 114-154.