O olhar de panóptico sobre a alma

This study investigates how the disciplinary power described by Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish manifests itself in the context of religion and postmodernity. Foucault analyzes the transition from physical and visible punishments to more subtle and internalized forms of surveillance, in which the subject controls himself. The research examines how this disciplinary dynamic, previously centered on institutions such as prisons and schools, adapts to the postmodern religious field, marked by an individualized and fragmented spirituality. The methodology adopted is qualitative, based on interpretative analysis of Discipline and Punish and studies on religion and postmodern subjectivity. By relating Foucault's concept of discipline with contemporary religious practices, the research proposes a critical view of how religion, even decentralized, continues to operate as a tool for self-control and standardization. The results indicate that disciplinary power, although less visible, persists in an internalized form, especially in the personalized religious practices of postmodernity, where the subject becomes his own watchman and moral regulator. The research concludes that, in postmodernity, surveillance and social control become less institutionalized, but deeply rooted in the individual, shaping identities in a self-managed way.