Foucault's panopticon
In his concept of a panopticon, French philosopher Michel Foucaultespoused the picture of an all-seeing entity, one that governs all forms ofhuman behavior. According to Foucault, humans are growing increasinglyunable to live free from the shadow cast by the panopticon. Foucault wasprobably not aware of the extent to which his predictions eventually camethrough. Today, his concept of the ubiquity of the panopticon is evenmore relevant, especially in light of the new technological advances thathave facilitated even greater surveillance and encroachment in private This paper applies the framework of Foucault's panopticon to themyriad of technologies that have increased surveillance in our everydaylives. This paper thus argues that we continue to live in an era of amore sophisticated panopticon, one that allows electronic surveillancethrough more sophisticated, more subtle and more effective ways. The first part of this paper discusses Foucault's concept of thepanopticon, and how it relates to the concept of discipline and socialcontrol. This section explains how Foucault's concepts underlie advancedindustrialized societies. The next part of this paper then studies how
In my office, for example, a numberof rules have been implemented that have implications on how people self-modify their own behavior. " However,given the nature of electronic surveillance's and the modern Panopticon,this joke may not be too far-fetched. Any communication sent via e-mail, including those of a personalnature, is considered property of the company and could be read by anyone. These are just a few examples of how technology hasprovided employers with more options to exert control over the lives oftheir employees. The people in the cells will thus never know when they arebeing observed. Digitally-embeddedtechnologies like "globally unique identifiers" (GUIDs), IP addresses andcookies make it possible to track one's actions over the Internet. Foucault's Panopticon thus shows how self-motivation changes insocieties, depending on the power structures in place. The possibility that there arecameras, however, keeps many people wary of practices such as "borrowing"office supplies and slacking on the job. The backlighting, however, ensures that each prisoner canalso be readily seen from the outside. Many people might then modifytheir behavior, because they do not want any digital record of theiractions. It is by providing the observerswith an "asymmetry of seeing without being seen" that the Panopticonbestows power on an individual or group. Because the Panopticon changes individualbehavior through self-motivation, its power structures could thus operateeven without an actual person acting in control. These measures help further reinforce the idea of a social Panopticonin American society. Corollary to this, employees in the office are also ordered to avoidsurfing through "unprofessional" sites. The observers, however,are free to watch whenever they want to.
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