DISCIPLINE AND PUNISH: THE BIRTH OF THE PRISON by Michel Foucault; translated by Alan Sheridan Pantheon; 333 pages; $10.95
Michel Foucault is one of those rare intellectual cult figures whose impact is easier to acknowledge than to assess. Like Ludwig Wittgenstein, he is highly regarded in the narrowest of academic circles. This, the sixth translated volume of Foucault's work, reaffirms his meditative brillianceĀand Delphic obscurity. As always, Foucault, 51, ransacks history for prefigurations of contemporary power and knowledge. Discipline and Punish analyzes the institution of incarceration as it burgeoned in 19th century Europe and America. Why this sudden, universal appearance?...
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