Monday, April 26, 2010

Post-modern prisons

In the labyrinth of high school peer politics and social regulations, the prison guard in the Panopticon is not the principal, it is the Cool Standard. This unseen guard imposes strict codes on dress and behavior, eliciting fear and angst at the spectre of making a horrid uncool mistake.


I know he has passed away, but when reading of Jean-Francois Lyotard's "incredulity towards meta-narratives," and his claim that any code of universal ethics is impossible, I am tempted to inflict something sudden, irrational, and mean--like a kick in the shin--and try to make him admit: Okay that's just not right!

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