Keywords
State
Church
Subjectivity
Categories
How to Cite
Abstract
The article aims to understand the historical evolution of surveillance practices. It will be argued that surveillance is not a recent phenomenon; it has existed since antiquity. Using the genealogical analysis method articulated by the well-known French thinker Michel Foucault, the article will analyze the nature, scope, and functioning of surveillance practices during the medieval era of the Christian church and later during the formative phase of the absolutist state. It has been argued that the social function of surveillance apparatuses differed- the surveillance apparatus of the Church aimed at the salvation of the soul, whereas the surveillance mechanisms of the absolutist state were geared to protect the territory of the state.
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