Foucault was a prestigious French theorist who studied social institutions, influential until his death in 1984. He published Discipline & Punish: The Birth of the Prison in 1975, a work that largely focuses on the birth of the prison system and the modern application of power and punishment in society.
He brings a stark contrast to Weber, interested in shaping and manipulating individuals rather than letting them work with their own free "calling." Obviously this work was meant to investigate the reigning in of the individual, not free will, and provides insight as to how the Seahawks formula can be sharpened.
1. A major Achilles heal for the team, notably the defense, in 2010 was staying inside the scheme. During the lockout, where there is no communication to players, how can the organization indirectly impose it's will upon signed players, un-signed free agents and possible new players? Foucault's Panopticism provides insight as to how the watchful eye of authority is designed to have strong psychological effects on subjects within a given system; how the tentacles of authority can permeate into and subconsciously drive the every day life of a given subject. The key is, the more unnoticed the watchful eye, the greater its power.
2. Foucault studies in depth the efficient mechanisms and methods used when asserting the authority of the watchful eye upon these subjects, "docile bodies" within the prison system. The appeal of the docile body is that the individual is effectively treated as a blank slate, a willing and able individual looking to adhere to the principles of the given system. Are any of these methods applicable in preparing 2011 draftees and perspective free agents, especially given the time crunch created by a lack of CBA?
Again, comments and questions are welcome. A couple Bleacher Report articles to come this week, while Frantz Fanon and Alexis De Tocqueville will be introduced over the weekend.
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