In his 1836 book, Contrasts , architect, designer, and social critic A. W. Pugin contrasts Bentham’s “panopticon” (Foucaultian symbol of modern surveillance and the carceral society) with an idealized Gothic “Ancient Poor House.”
In his recent book on medievalism in modern England, Michael Alexander notes that Pugin was one of the first to recognize the link between architectural and society, and that Pugin’s critique was advanced in various ways by Disreli, Ruskin, Dickens, Engels, Marx, and William Morris.
And, in one respect at least, Foucault.
Peter Leithart
Peter J. Leithart is President of Theopolis Institute. He is the author of numerous books on theology, literature, and culture, including Theopolitan, Defending Constantine, and Baptized Body.
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