"Hierarchized continuous and functional surveillance may not be one of the
             great technical inventions' of the eighteenth century," according to
             Foucault, but institutional surveillance nonetheless expresses a social,
             economic, and political need of a capitalist society (176). Discipline
             operates as a power structure and functions as a social technology.
             Discipline finds expression through various social institutions, from the
             military to the factory, to the school. The purpose of discipline and
             training is not necessarily to create a unified mass out of a collection of
             individuals but to individuate the means of production according to the
             needs of the manufacturer or capitalist. As a relatively simple structure,
             the disciplinary hierarchy nevertheless implies the means of social,
             economic, and political control.
             Discipline, like any mechanical or physical technology, is designed to
             transform the natural world. As such, discipline functions as a transformer
             of the human will. The individual worker, military officer, or student is
             subordinated to the superior officer or trainer or teacher in order for the
             society as a whole to function according to capitalist means and ends. This
             type of discipline is accomplished through continual and pervasive
             surveillance, not necessarily via cameras or videotape but through an
             organized social and professional hierarchy. For instance, at the factory,
             the supervisors keep close eyes on the workers. At school, the
             administration and teachers keep their eyes on the students. At military
             camps, prevailing officers keep tabs on their junior officers. These
             surveillance mechanisms serve a social function as well as a practical one:
             the do not merely maintain law and order in a society. Rather, surveillance
             and discipline permit the creation of a class-oriented capitalist society.
             The time-clock preceded and also accompanied the advent of the
             capitalist society. The ...