Reflection 9

Discipline is something that I feel is now embodied in us. As Foucault rightly points out, in today’s world we are the warden and the prisoner. We are constantly trying to be exactly that perfect person which we are expected to be. It’s interesting to see how we are disciplined from the school itself. We need to follow the schedules perfectly, we need to dress perfectly and we need to talk and behave in the permissible range. If we do not follow the norms, we are punished. Now, I could also relate that at least in the Indian schools the punishments were such that they were visible to the entire class. The student to be punished was either made to stand for the entire lecture or made to sit down on the floor. It was similar to ancient punishments where the criminals were executed in front of the public to preserve the power structure. Similarly punishing students in front of the class, reinstated discipline in students. Everyone feared that if they misbehaved they might be punished similarly.

Nowadays, work culture is becoming more flexible. There are no restrictions on work timings and even remote work is allowed. But at the end there are deadlines and if you don’t meet your deadlines, you will face some kind of punishment. Employees are continuously bombarded with emails, so that they keep thinking about work all the time. Also employees are encouraged to work through a promotion and reward system. Though not through discipline but employees are constantly pushed to be productive. Even outside of work, the media is pushing us to be more productive. Everytime I open my instagram, I can see posts saying how we should use time more efficiently and learn new skills required for jobs. LinkedIn constantly keeps telling me to apply for new job opportunities. Thus we can see how the entire social system is pushing us to work and be more productive. I recently received an email which said, enroll kids for coding classes from fourth grade itself as it is one of the most wanted job skills. I wondered if we want the next generation to be just money making machines? Why are we so desperate to make them job ready from such a young age. Accepting such standards for our kids can make their childhood burdensome. I feel it is more important for them to learn to think, be creative and find their own expression.

I could think of how everyone is born free and initially a rebel. But then our voice is suppressed and we are shaped to fit in the society. We initially reject our conscription into these disciplined bots. Most of the children don’t like going to schools, which are disciplining institutions. But then we are taught that we need to be a typical kind of person to be accepted in society. All institutions, from family to school to work follow similar structures and have their own laws. Thus we can say that the current social structure is similar to a panopticon. We often find ourselves thinking if we are doing the right thing. All of our internalized expectations of us are given to us by someone in power. These standards also dictate how we should look and what beauty is. Such standards can impose much difficulty on the queer community who might not conform with the gendered expectations of dressing and behaving. They might think their ways of life are wrong which might lead to depression and stress. All the social institutions try to mould them away from their natural expression since their childhood, which might prove harmful for their mental health.

Colonialism had a strong influence on redefining the standards of being of many cultures and countries. Colonialism reformed people to be the perfect employees and soldiers. In India, the ability of speaking English was standardized as a quality which intellects had. Inability to speak english was looked down upon. Dressing like English people was respected but Indian traditional dresses were considered unsophisticated. The traditions and teachings of ancient India were regarded as barbaric. The colonialist powers successfully set up the overall standard that anything of white men is much superior to anything that is Indian. As a result Indians started disregarding their own culture. The best example of this is, Indians could accept Yoga again, only when it was accepted by ‘white people’. And the traces of these standards can be still seen in India even after 74 years of Independence.