![]() While mass incarceration’s rise in America may evoke a Foucauldian dystopia, the relative development of human rights and dignity in European punishment reflects aspirations that Foucault embraced as an activist concerned about fatalistic interpretations of his theories. The dialectic offers another perspective on Foucault, whose theories have fostered skepticism about the possibility of progress. In reality, Foucault and Ancel converged in intriguing ways. This evokes exactly what “Discipline and Punish” cast as an insidious strategy of social control. Foucault explains the alleged failures of the modern prison by showing how the very concern with rehabilitation encourages and refines criminal activity. Ancel defended more benevolent prisons where experts would rehabilitate offenders. Ancel and Foucault were contemporaries whose legacies are intertwined. The article reframes Foucauldian theory through a dialectic with the theories of Marc Ancel, a prominent figure in the emergence of liberal sentencing norms in France. Although Foucault is associated with the prison abolition movement, he also proposed more humane prisons. ![]() ![]() Michel Foucault’s advocacy toward penal reform in France differed from his theories. ![]()
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