Michael Gallagher

Foucault, disciplinary power and the dangerous remainder

Published by Ansgar Allen on April 17, 2013 | Leave a response

In a recent blog, Michael Gallagher called ‘Orwellian readings of Foucault’ into question. These emphasise the ubiquity of power as it becomes manifest through the disciplinary gaze: The gaze cannot be escaped, and so individuals act in conformity with dominant norms; few spaces remain where abnormal behaviour can be indulged in private. The panopticon has become the dominant cypher… Read more →

Using Foucault in School Research: Thinking Beyond the Panopticon

Published by Michael Gallagher on April 4, 2013 | Leave a response

The ideas of Michel Foucault are an obvious point of reference for social researchers studying schools. In Discipline and Punish, Foucault explicitly analyses schooling as an apparatus of modern disciplinary power. And it is easy to draw parallels between his well-known account of the Panopticon and the ways in which surveillance works in educational institutions. However, in this blog… Read more →