THE WORK TO WATCH AND PUNISH: THE BIRTH OF PRISON AND ITS INFERENCE FOR CRIMINAL LAW AND SOCIETY

Abstract

This papper discusses Michel Foucault book – Discipline and Punish: Birth of Prision which is fundamental for understanding systems linked to disciplinary power and the structures designed to shape individuals in ordem to make them appropriate to a neoliberal society, with their domesticated bodies and souls. Explaining the main concepts, Foucault unveils the development of the prison punitive system that structure the criminal law system. To contextualize the contemporary society, it is used Bauman (2007), Guatarri (1985, 2001) and Boaventura de Sousa Santos (1999) to create a dialogue with the concepts of the Foucaultian work, presenting as the same mechanisms that induce a conformation of bodies can be used to counteract disciplinary power as resistance movements, creating possibilities for new manifestations of social order and unveiling of power relations.