REASON VERSUS UNREASON: INSTITUTIONAL POWER AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF MADNESS IN FOUCAULT’S MADNESS AND CIVILIZATION

Abstract

Michel Foucault’s Madness and Civilization (1961) offers a profound exploration of how societies define, control, and marginalize what they consider “mad.” This study examines the tension between reason and unreason, focusing on how institutional power shapes perceptions of madness. Drawing on Foucauldian theory, it argues that madness is not merely a medical or psychological condition but a social construct produced through discourse, rituals, and practices of control. Central to this analysis is the role of confession, a mechanism through which individuals are compelled to articulate their inner thoughts, desires, and behaviours to conform to institutional norms. By examining historical and literary accounts of asylums, courts, and other centres of authority, the paper demonstrates how surveillance, categorization, and disciplinary practices regulate not only the bodies but also the minds of those labelled “mad.” The research highlights the ways in which power operates invisibly, producing subjects who internalize norms of reason and self-regulate in accordance with institutional expectations. Furthermore, it explores the broader implications for understanding social control, gendered oppression, and resistance within the modern world. Ultimately, this study contends that Foucault’s analysis challenges conventional notions of rationality, exposing madness as a site where power, knowledge, and human subjectivity intersect, and emphasizing the enduring relevance of these insights for contemporary debates on mental health, social norms, and institutional authority.