Undergraduate thesis deals with the notion of space in the sense of exclusion. In the first part, it exposes space in relation to some of Foucault´s main notions, such as power, control and discipline through his philosophical research on the development of psychiatric institutions and prisons. Furthermore, it defines the notion of power as a complex system of many diverse factors, and explaines how the generally accepted ideas about it are usually missleading. A large portion of the thesis tries to explain power, society and the philosophy of Michel Foucault as a whole, because of its importance for understanding the space which is not analysed separately in Foucault´s work as one of the fundamental notions. As a counterpart to the philosophical elaborations of space, the second part of the thesis deals with the sociological analysis of Erving Goffman and illuminates spaces of exclusion and their effects on the individuals. It shows the distinctly negative role of psychiatric hospitals and other total institutions as they interfere with individual´s way of life and work towards the eradication of their identity. In the last part, the research is focused on a search of spaces of exclusion which could present positive effects of safety, critical thinking and teaching. Lastly, the thesis tries to answer some of the questions which arise when we think about spaces in philosophical, sociological and architectural sense
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