Michel Foucault's work on discipline suggests: "Manipulative techniques became individualised in the 18th century, and the power over the body was extended to the most minute movements. This time, it was driven by a search for an economy of movement. Manipulation was to be uninterrupted, constant, and detailed, leading to a stress on 'discipline.' The changes also were about extracting maximum utility from people as well, and the ascetic disciplines of the monastery were an influence. A 'political anatomy,' a 'mechanics of power' were developing, to simultaneously increase energy and subject it. This implies some prior analysis and classification of the characteristics of the body."
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