Total institutions have undergone profound changes since Erving Goffman published his seminal work Asylums in 1961. This article explores the persistence and transformation of total institutions under late-modern conditions. Based upon empirical research conducted in a female Benedictine monastery, I analyse changes in the physically bounded structure of a total institution. Specifically, I address the trend towards greater permeability and flexibility of enclosed total spaces. Inspired by Georg Simmel’s spatial insights, I examine how boundaries are historically reshaped through changing relations of distance and proximity to wider society, and how these shifts alter the material expression and configuration of power that originally characterised the monastery’s totality. This article claims the ongoing relevance of Goffman’s conceptualisation to accommodate such modifications and illustrates how, in certain cases, adaptations of total institutions to contemporary conditions can be understood as involving the reconfiguration, rather than the dismantling, of totality.

自Erving Goffman发表他的开创性著作《庇护所》以来，整个机构都发生了深刻的变化。1961年。本文探讨了后现代条件下总体机构的持久性和变革。基于在女性本笃会修道院中进行的实证研究，我分析了整个机构的身体有限结构的变化。具体来说，我解决了封闭的整体空间具有更高的渗透性和灵活性的趋势。受到格奥尔格·西梅尔（Georg Simmel）的空间洞察力的启发，我研究了历史如何通过改变距离和与更广泛社会的距离和接近关系来重塑边界，以及这些变化如何改变最初表征修道院整体的物质表达和权力配置。本文声称高夫曼（Goffman）概念化在适应此类修改方面的持续意义，并说明了在某些情况下，