Constructivisn: Foucault and Goffman

The difference between constructivist theories such as those of Erving Goffman, and a constructivist such as Foucault is primarily one of focus. Erving Goffman analyzed implicit social rules governing nonverbal interactions by individuals to develop his theories. Goffman demonstrated that the most casual actions, such as posture, and body and eye movements that people make, are performances aimed toward communicating a positive impression for an audience. Throughout a substantial body of work, Goffman focused on the self and self-presentation. He preferred to study individuals. Goffman's minute descriptions of individuals face-to-face interactions formed the large body of his work and were his greatest interest.

In contrast, Michael Foucault preferred to analyze the entire society. He examined the ways in which societies operated and the principles of exclusion societies developed to define themselves through the writings of the time. Foucault did not conduct the type of first-hand and intensive field work characteristic of the development of Goffman's theories. Foucault's theories on history and the self were more impersonal and global in focus. They centered on how societies interpreted and implemented their definitions of sane and insane, innocent and criminal, and insider and outsider.

Goffman looks at the way individuals present themselves and their activities to others, using the theater as a framework. In his theory of impression management, Goffman

ons were affected. The shift from imprisonment and torture of the insane and criminal to the modern code of laws, separate mental facilities for the insane, and a new system of punishment developed for the criminal is an example of this shift (23). Another difference between Goffman and Foucault is the method by which they developed their theories. Goffman carefully observed and demonstrated through a substantial body of research and study the basis for his presentation of the self in everyday life and how the use of the theater model evolved. It is Goffman's view that individuals, from their smallest basic interactions up to the largest from the society. By comparison, Foucault did not conduct research directly. He was primarily a cultural historian and relied on the written work which was available to develop his theories. In his view, it is how societies, as large groups and not individuals, viewed and comprehended their world that defined the culture and governed the ways in which the society distributed and used power. Faucault traced the changing use of power against the most excluded groups as an indication of how a society defined itself. Works Cited Foucault, M. Discipline & Punish: Th

Category: Philosophy - C