Panopticism - Foucault
“Panopticism” by Foucault is an extract describing Bentham’s Panopticon, an idea for a structure that allows for supervision of several people (be them condemned, workers, or schoolchildren) by few supervisors. The author describes the structure as a perfect form of control because of its efficiency and its ability to immobilize people by having an extensive power that bears over all individual bodies, which the author claims is “the utopia of the perfectly governed city” (4).
The author’s intended audience is the middle to lower class population, because he intends to inform people of the two different extremes of discipline saying that one discipline is of the enclosed institution, while the other (as with the panopticon) is a functional mechanism that makes the exercise of power, “lighter, more rapid, more effective, [and] a design of the subtle coercion for a society to come” (12). The author states how the spread of the latter discipline throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries might become the standard for a disciplinary society, alluding to the idea that it may become a way to control the masses.
Foucault is fascinated at the creation of the panopticon, especially concerning how it makes surveillance and control of a large group very simple. The author expresses fascination through example, first stating that the prisoner, “is the object of information, never a subject in communication” (6). Then sharing the anecdote of two children brought up in different areas of the panopticon learning different facts (i.e. one is taught that 1+1=3) and then when they meet later on in life, they have discussions that “would be worth a great deal more than the sermons or lectures on which so much money is spent” (8). The author introduces this story in order to emphasize how amazing the design of the panopticon is.
In the article, Foucault describes the ability of the panopticon to keep control of masses by making them think that they are being watched. In an attempt to inform people of possible uses of such disciplinary strategies, the author risks inspiring ideas of conspiracy by which people will attempt to control others using a similar approach.
The Panopticon was an idea created by Bentham that allowed for ease of supervision of a mass of people. The Panopticon could succeed, because it gave people the illusion of always being observed. It is the idea that nobody is around, so someone must be watching. This idea can then be broadened to a much larger scale (not necessarily with a watch tower, but with some form of technology). Cell phones, for example, have the ability to be traced and with such a large percentage of people carrying them, it would be very easy for them to become tools of tracking. With people dependent on their phones (what with internet, communication, entertainment, tools and who knows what else in them) they are not likely to be off person for an extended period of time, which allows for them to be a very useful tool for determining someone’s location. It is not long after that, that the phones begin to be used as microphones and video cameras. These devices are already on many phones, and it would not take much in order to make them transmit information to a private source. Then, people would be living within a world-wide Panopticon when they never know if/by whom they are being watched.
Whether or not Foucault had originally intended to inspire this kind of thinking, he certainly did. The way he described the Panopticon, the examples he used, the presentation of the ease of surveillance, inspired a line of thinking that leads to ideas of control; control of the masses by unbeknownst surveillance.
In order to provide information to support/discourage this idea, the following questions are presented:
1. Cell phones were given as an example of a way that people could be observed without their knowing. What other mediums could be used in order to survey large masses of people?
2. What would be the advantages/disadvantages for a certain body to know where all of its associates are at any point in time?
3. What would be the advantages/disadvantages for a group of people to know that they are being constantly watched?
3 comments:
I think there are a lot of different ways that people can be tracked, both knowingly and not. Cars can have a GPS system built in to the car such as lojack and OnStar. While both of those are meant to be used in ways other than tracking the location of the cars owner, they can definitely be used in that way. Other ways that are pretty common are CCTVs. While they aren't overly popular here in the U.S. yet, it the UK CCTV cameras are used quite a bit.
A big reason for the use of surveillance devices in a lot of cases is probably security. The CCTV cameras I mentioned before are especially useful for this, as that is one of their main uses. I am going to be basing my examples off of my experience at work in a retail store, where we have cameras all over the ceiling. They can be (and are) used to watch people who may seem suspicious, such as someone who is wearing a heavy winter coat in the store while it is over 100 degrees outside. They are also set up in the employee-only areas, such as the stockrooms, so that management can find out if an employee is stealing product. Because of those cameras I know of at least a few instances where thousands of dollars of merchandise were recovered, as well as several dishonest employees who were caught.
There are some downsides to always being on camera though. The feeling of always being watched is a little disconcerting, even when I know I am doing nothing wrong at all. It is somewhat creepy to be talking on the phone to security about something and have them tell you "Yeah, I know. I was watching you." Also, having knowledge of what store security is looking for when they are trying to find someone who looks suspicious, I feel like I could be targeted as I walk into another store just because I happen to be a teenager with a jacket on. Again, it is the feeling of "always being watched" that can be uncomfortable.
In response to question 3:
A group of people that knows that they are constantly being watched would act very differently than any group of people free of (known?) surveillance. The benefits would include things similar to what Foucault argues for in his writings on the panopticon structure, with this group of people being more easily controlled (who is to disobey when the chances of getting caught are 100%?) and easy to study. These benefits only really have a use on a temporary or disciplinary level, however, since constant surveillance would begin to strongly influence someone’s life after a period of time. This person would shy away from creative actions, and settle into doing what they are sure is allowed and safe for them. This would affect their mental state and lead to a stagnation of their learning processes, as their dependence on routine would grow. Overall, constant surveillance has its place, but only in a disciplinary system, never in education or social situations.
What would be the advantages/disadvantages for a certain body to know where all of its associates are at any point in time?
The obvious advantages to knowing where all your employees or coworkers are located at all times is just that, having the power to know what they are doing, where they are doing it and how well all at once. A business setting, especially in our capitalistic society, involves trying to create the most effective environment to eventually make money. Usually this involves people doing what they are assigned to do, avoiding foreseeable distractions and following the rules and structure set up. The ability to check and survey these things allows a business to run more smoothly because those in charge have the potential to immediately correct a problem or improve an imperfection in the system. These advantages dealing with efficiency are really only seen in the business sector while there are also advantages to be noted in the disciplinary sector as Sean mentioned. But these advantages all follow the same basic system that Foucault puts forward, that the ability to watch and know what others are doing, gives the watcher greater power over the watched. The disadvantages to knowing where all your employees or associates are and what they are doing at all times is that because they are expected to follow all of the rules, at all times, their jobs can become repetitive leading to boredom, mistakes and less overall effort put into work.
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