Normalizing Judgment

In Foucault’s “The Means of Correct Training,” he describes a successful disciplinary power, which he says comes from training, using three distinct concepts, including hierarchal observation, normalizing judgment, and the examination. In essence, Foucault says that training is only successful if large groups are broken down into small, separate segments because “discipline makes individuals; it is the specific technique of power that regards individuals both as objects and as instruments of its exercise” (188).

Foucault’s idea of normalizing judgment is a form of disciplinary power but instead of the discipline coming from a person, it comes from a standard that is considered normal or average on a society, specifically in education. In the beginning of this section, he uses the military as an example for this normalizing effect because the individuals were punished if they did not follow the normal standard that was set by the higher power. This military-like atmosphere can be compared to today’s school system, which Foucault even points out. What is more punishable to him than this is nonconforming, or when the individual does not reach the required level. He says, “It differentiates individuals from one another, in terms of the following overall rule: that the rule be made to function as a minimal threshold, as an average to be respected, or as an optimum toward which one must move” (195). Foucault was way ahead of this time when bringing up this idea. In today’s society this is especially seen in standardized testing in the school systems. Teachers base their curriculum on what is going to be on the standardized test, and as a result students should be able to reciprocate the information so that they can reach the next level. If this level is not reached then the student is required to repeat the course and retake the test, which is considered the punishment, until they have reached this level.

“Normalizing judgment” ends up creating a homogeneous society because everyone is compared to the same standard, but at the same time, it does not take away from the individual because “it is possible to measure gaps, determine levels, to fix specialties…” (197). This concept of the individual is what is most important in a society/culture today.