“POLITICAL ECONOMY’ OF THE BODY” – MICHEL FOUCAULT, DISCIPLINE & PUNISH

• “[T]he body is … directly involved in a political field; power relations have an immediate hold upon itl they invest it mark it, train it, torture it, force it to carry out tasks, to perform ceremonies, to emit signs,” (25)

I think it may be talking about the political need of slaves. And how we politically force slaves. We invest in them, mark them with their experiences, train them to do the labour, torture them with the rigorous work and when they are not doing what we need or want them to do, and force them to do varies laborous jobs. They are basically considered property to do with what they wanted.

“[I]t is largely as a force of production that the body is invested with relations of power and domination; but, on the other hard, its constitution as labour power is possible only if it is caught up in a system of subjection… the body becomes a useful force only if it is both a productive body and a subjected body.” (26)

Basically there are different levels of laborers, as far as how hard they work and how well they do at their work, and by fitting these laborers into categories accordingly, it is possible for people of higher status to harshly push these laborers beyond what they would ordinarily be capable of.

"In the darkest region of the political field the condemned man represents the symmetrical, inverted figure of the king." (29)

I think it means that the condemned man is at the same level are those opposite of the King. The King is very highly respected, whereas the condemned man is the lowest of low or the most negative, making that aspect the darkest region of the political field. I guess you could say that the condemned man was at the very bottom of the totem pole, as a visual of the political field.