Graduation Year

2025

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Philosophy

Reader 1

Jordan Daniels

Reader 2

Yuval Avnur

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© 2025 Audrey R Scott

Abstract

This thesis explores the historical development of identity formation in Western culture. I argue that the modern understanding of the self is largely shaped by systems of power, particularly disciplinary power, as theorized by Michel Foucault. Tracing the shift from sovereign power to disciplinary power, showing how institutions like prisons, schools, and medical facilities utilize techniques like surveillance and examination to produce normalized and governable subjects, these external forces deeply affect a person's inner relationship to their subjecthood. Using the genealogy of sexuality as an example for how confession evolved into scientific discourse to categorize and control individuals, these historys can give us more agency in deciding how we want to self-constitute. Finally, the thesis examines modern Witchcraft as a form of resistance to these normalizing forces, highlighting how spiritual practices and reclaiming the word ‘Witch’ as an identity can offer alternative ways of knowing and being, fostering community, healing, and self-constitution outside dominant frameworks.

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