How Michael Focault’s theory changed my views on society, education, and politics

People always succumb to power, but power comes in different forms. It may come
discreetly not brutely, but it stills manages to maintain the society. Society has been built on
different constructs from social norms to institutions, what make them exist is our will to
trust and follow them. Michael Foucault’s theory of disciplinary power is that society does
not forcefully implement their authority against each of us but relies on ‘mental asylums’
(Pollard, 2019) to regulate each of our own behaviour, in which the index of power is
primarily indicated by primarily knowledge, explaining how society runs regularly and
orderly overall with rules despite millions of people. In the following reflection, I would like
to integrate my knowledge, my observations and experience of the society and some
resources to compose my essay.

The foundation of different institutions are different professionals with knowledge, which
make up the ‘norms’ of society. Professions emerge to judge people and pressure them to
follow the so-called objective discipline that a society holds, like a teacher or a doctor
(Focault, 2012). A teacher holds certified qualification to educate youngsters, like a PGDE in
Hong Kong that gives a powerful symbol of knowledge to post-graduates who attended a 1-
year course in education, in which there is another group of university professors that hold
the course. In this mode of attaining the degree, the ‘future teachers’ devote themselves in
a course led by ‘current professors. After they finish the course, they become teachers
themselves to execute education again on younger ones. The hierarchy among different
groups of knowledge is already evident. People with less knowledge are willing to be
influenced by the so-called professional intellectuals, yet they are not threatened by any
punishment, but motivated to avoid being abnormal, or ‘a social deviant’ (Pollard, 2023).
They hope to mobilise themselves up the social ladder, so that they may be considered as
social elites, or at least deemed as a standard and non-delusional creature in the society. It
is the desire to align themselves with their values, which are shaped by the influence of
authoritative or mass information.

The demonstration of knowledge is so authoritative that lead people to follow instructions

on those who are regarded ‘professional’. A vivid example that reminded me this is the
Milgram experiment. A professional in a lab coat dress claiming that the experiment was
conducted on research purposes regarding memory and learning, guides the experimental
subject to press electrifying buttons with gradually increasing voltage on a ‘student’ when a
wrong answer to a question is received (Eldridge, 2023). The symbol of knowledge, including
the lab coat, the laboratory setting, the claim to be set for research purposes, convey a
message that the subject of the experiment must follow the instructions from the lab coat
professional for the sake of knowledge. It is problematic that when people follow
instructions on ‘knowledgeable authorities’, they can disregard any sympathy of humanity.

The obedience to disciplinary power is what dominates the uniformity of majority, where
the minority of society is in turn considered as outcasts. Although it’s not a violent
oppression when one does not follow the regulations and norms, it’s the mainstream that
submits themselves to the power units. This submission is hardly to be aware of, where
most of the progress influences the crowd conspicuously through ‘discourse’, interweaving
‘power’ and ‘knowledge’ to construct the society (Pitsol and Letseka, 2012). ‘Discourse’ is
the boundaries of the ‘appropriacy’ of society of what can be discussed and contemplated
under a certain authority (Focault & Sheridan-Smith, 2010). The etymology of ‘discourse’, or
‘discours’ in Foucault’s French language is originated from the Latin word ‘discursus’. Its
literal meaning is running to and fro, like an argument where ideas are exchanged back and
forth. It is this process that binds the relationship of power and knowledge. Discourse
creates the fabric of ‘objective reality’ and ‘universal truth’. In a school classroom, each
teacher has established ground rules by discourse in the first lesson, communicating what
can and cannot be done in one’s classroom. In this way, classroom management is initially
defined, and a tiny society is constructed with a certain discourse.

However, the infiltration of other discourses can pave the way to challenging against a
certain power. Like the example used above in a classroom setting, students are subject to
different discourses under different management styles of teachers. To treat a SEN student
with autism spectrum disorder as an example, some may scold the student directly for
lacking attention as ‘paying attention’ is the primary rule of attending the class but some
may tolerate this behaviour as ‘positivity’ may be encouraged as the norm of the classroom.
This difference in terms of discourse lead students to question the authority of the teacher
that treat the autistic student poorly, that they may start to rebel against rules. The
normalisation of a certain value comes to a halt after the infiltration of another discourse of
power. In Hong Kong, before the 2019 protests and the National Security Law, the
promotion of liberal values in education was still somehow emphasised with the presence of
Liberal studies which included political and social issues of China and Hong Kong,
encouraging students to think two-sided for or against an opinion. Such Western values
were believed to contradict the attempt to unite Hong Kong and mainland under the
Extradition Law. Hence, protests emerge to challenge the rule of government. The power of
the CCP government is eventually questioned by the power of the discourse of liberal
knowledge. A counterreaction by the government is that they cancel the subject of liberal
studies to avoid school becoming the incubator of conversation in politics and hold activities
like national security day to indoctrinate new generation students with patriotic values. The
National Security Law is also devised to exert surveillance over the promotion pro-HK
independent symbols that execute the function of discourse like speech, songs, or even
keychains, because they are believed to be a threat to disintegrating the country.

My liberal studies teacher had always told us the priceless value of learning the subject
before it had been cancelled. Critical thinking has now been gradually eliminated and
students nowadays just follow what is told on the ‘revised’ Life and Society textbooks that
do not bring questions to them to question the knowledge they are supposed to absorb,
regarding the June Forth accident as ‘chicken feather garlic skin’, a Chinese jargon describing
trivial things that are not worthy to be mentioned, by a representative of the Education
Bureau. Coupled with the increase of new immigrants, the use of mainland social media
‘Douyin’ is widespread that new generation slangs have also influenced a significant
discourse among younger students to popularise the mainland terms. It is almost to be a
social deviant not to follow the new generation norms when I try to communicate with
them…
References:

Adams, R. (n.d.). Michael Focault: Discourse. Institutional racism and individual agency: A
case study using Foucault’s disciplinary power.
https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/download/5906/4912?inline=1

Eldridge, S. (2023, October 13). Milgram experiment. Encyclopædia Britannica.

https://www.britannica.com/science/Milgram-experiment

Foucault, M. (2012). Discipline and punish. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

Foucault, M., & Sheridan-Smith, A. (2010). The archaeology of knowledge and the discourse
on language. Vintage Books.

Lavoie, C. (2014). Institutional Racism and Individual Agency: A Case Study using
Foucault’s Disciplinary Power. Institutional racism and individual agency: A case
study using Foucault’s disciplinary power.
https://ojs.uwindsor.ca/index.php/csw/article/download/5906/4912?inline=1

Pitsoe, V., & Letseka, M. (2013). Foucault’s discourse and power: Implications for
instructionist classroom management. Open Journal of Philosophy, 03(01), 23–28.
https://doi.org/10.4236/ojpp.2013.31005

Pollard, C. (2023, February 8). Explainer: The ideas of foucault. The Conversation.
https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-ideas-of-foucault-99758

University , P. (2002). Modules on Focault: III: Power . Introduction to Michel Foucault,

module on power.
https://www.cla.purdue.edu/academic/english/theory/newhistoricism/modules/
foucaultpower.html