Political Economy of the Body

" [T]he body is. . . directly involved in a political field; power relations have an immediate hold upon it; they invest it, mark it, train it, torture it, force it to carry out tasks, no perfection ceremonies, to emit signs" (25).


I believe that this quote is about how slaves were being treated. Where it states, "they invested it, marked it. . . train it", it shows us the readers how the slave masters thought of their slaves. The slave masters would have to teach and train their slaves to their perfection. This quote also shows how much power the master has against his/her slave. For example, where it states, "involved in a political field; power relations have an immediate hold upon it", this shows the perfect example of the relationship of master and slave. The master has the immediate power and the slave has absolutely no power.


"[I]t is largely as a force of production that the body is invested with relations of power and domination; but, on the other hand, its constitution as labour power is possible only if it is caught up in a system of subjection. . . the body becomes a useful force only if it is both a productive body and a subjected body" (26).


In this quote, it tells us the readers what a slave represents. In the first line, "productions that the body is invested with relations of power and domination", this shows how investments that are made on slaves shows others that you have the power and you dominate your slave. This quote also tells us what slaves bodies are only good for. For example, " The body becomes a useful force only if it is both a productive body and a subjected body", this shows an example of what a majority of people though of slaves. Slaves bodies are only useful if they have a great work ethic and if they work well, fast and willingly.


"In the darkest region of the political field the condemned man represents the symmetrical, inverted figure of the king"


I believe that this quote represents a condemned man as the figure of the king. As we all know, a king is not a condemned man but, a king could have his moments. Foucault tries to tell us readers that the condemned man represents the king when he uses the workds symmetrical and inverted figure of the king.