Choose an example
of one aspect of contemporary culture that is, in your opinion, panoptic. Write
an explanation of this, in approximately 200-300 words, employing key
Foucauldian language, such as 'Docile Bodies' or 'self-regulation, and using
not less than 5 quotes from the text 'Panopticism' in Thomas, J. (2000)
'Reading Images', NY, Palgrave McMillan.
Definition of Panopticism:
In Discipline and
Punish, Michel Foucault builds on Jeremy Bentham's
conceptualization of a panopticon as
he elaborates upon the function of disciplinary mechanisms in the prison and
illustrates the function of discipline as an apparatus of power. The
"panoptic" style of architecture may be used in other institutions
with surveillance needs, such as schools, factories or hospitals.
Foucault offers still another explanation for the type of
"anonymous power" held by the operator of the central tower,
suggesting that, "We have seen that anyone may come and exercise in the
central tower the functions of surveillance, and that this being the case, he
can gain a clear idea of the way the surveillance is practiced."[3] By including the anonymous "public
servant," as part of the built-in "architecture" of
surveillance, the disciplinary mechanism of observation is decentered and its
efficacy improved.
By individualizing the subjects and placing them in a state of constant
visibility, the efficiency of the institution is maximized. Furthermore, it
guarantees the function of power, even when there is no one actually asserting
it. It is in this respect that the Panopticon functions automatically. Foucault
goes on to explain that this design is also applicable for a laboratory. Its
mechanisms of individualization and observation give it the capacity to run
many experiments simultaneously. These qualities also give an authoritative
figure the “ability to penetrate men’s behavior”[1] without difficulty. This is all made possible through
the ingenuity of the geometric architecture. In light of this fact Foucault
compares jails, schools and factories in their structural similarities.
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TASK
In today’s society
surveillance could be considered as a panoptic measure that controls they way
in which society behaves. It could be considered a "disciplinary
power" that allows for what could be the "utopia of the perfectly
governed city", surveillance is set out to control entire cities by
recording their every move - by knowing that there is a possibly that you may
be being watched you automatically behave in a way that you think is
acceptable, that is essentially the code that is set by society. The feeling of
being watched is what can make you consider you actions, "visibility is
trap" if you thought that no one was watching your every move there would
be no need for you to act in any certain way.
It is interesting that on occasion there may be
notice that may say "CCTV in operation" although there may not even
be a camera, this leads to the point that "[he] is seen, but [he] does not
see; [he] is the object of information, never a subject in communication".
It is possible that you can almost live in fear in assuming that you are being
watched even though there may not be a camera. This is what eventually make you
alter the way in which you would behave, this notion automatically makes you
question your actions as you know you may be caught doing something wrong, this
focuses on the point that it would seem that someone else has the power to
control your actions and that “the power should be visible and unverifiable”.
There isn’t any one single person to control what you’re doing but in fact a
whole structure that reinforces they way in which you’re expected to behave.
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