Abstract:

France was one of the most important representatives of mercantilist doctrine. Undoubtedly, the Secretary of the Treasury at the time, J.B. Colbert’s influence was great. So, French mercantilism has been called Colbertism throughout history. In Colbert’s time, a number of unprecedented practices were implemented in provision of economic development in the country. One of these practices was the closure of people who were not seen as efficient to certain institutions by the Colbert administration. It has been argued that the process called “The Great Confinement” was a conscious project from the beginning. The aim of the project was to create a model of society consisting of one kind. In France, the state was at the forefront in the construction of this project. Foucault argues that in the seventeenth century, a different form of power emerged by transforming the concept of power into a concrete art of government rather than relationality. The aim of the study is to open the French mercantilism theory to criticism based on Foucault’s disciplinary power concept. In this context, the relationship between the French economy, which was managed by J.B. Colbert, the Secretary of the Treasury at the time, and the seclusion practices was examined within the scope of the literature. This review has been evaluated within the framework of Foucault’s disciplinary power concept.

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