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“The 'Enlightenment', which discovered the liberties, also invented the disciplines.”
Meaning: In Discipline and Punish, Foucault argues that the same age that celebrated freedom also built systems of training and surveillance in schools, barracks and workshops. The line asks us to examine how learning institutions shape behaviour. Apply it by questioning which classroom or workplace routines build real understanding and which merely enforce obedience. -
“Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?”
Meaning: Foucault poses this rhetorical question in Discipline and Punish to show that modern institutions share methods of timetables, supervision and ranking. Schools sit on that list deliberately. It invites teachers and learners to ask whether their own structures encourage curiosity, and to protect time for self-directed exploration.