Panopticism - Analysis of 'Discipline & Punish' by Michel Foucault




Analysis of 'Discipline & Punish - Panopticism'
by Michel Foucault

    (pp1-2) To begin with, Foucault describes the historical measures taken to fight the plague epidemics during the middle ages. His main focus is not on the disease, but rather on the logistical actions that the people took to eliminate it. Due to the monarchical structure of countries at that time, there was already a clearly established hierarchy of power, but another powerful tool surfaced from the disease-fighting efforts: surveillance. The constant surveillance and reporting through the hierarchical chain ensures full discipline both among quarantining citizens and among those who carry out the higher orders. 

    


(pp3-4)The described surveillance phenomena from above are exemplified with Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon. A cruel but intelligent solution for prisons.The concept of the Panopticon entails a circular or polygonial periphery with a central tower. The periphery is divided into even sections and has windows located on both external and internal sides, therefore making the sections fully visible, whereas the central tower remains in the dark invisible with full oversight over the visible periphery. This composition creates a "machinery that assures dissymmetry, disequilibrium, difference." - between the observer and the observed. This power position is purely psychological and triggers an ideal behavior with the inmates (in the case of the prison) thinking that they are watched without any verification.

    (pp5-6) Foucault draws the line of connection between the Panopticon concept and disciplinary power play within society. Besides the observatory part, the Panopticon can serve as an experimental part to alter and train behavior. He points out that it can easily be integrated and utilized with forming the apparatus for social institutions such as hospitals and schools. However, through social apparatus, the bureaucratic structure creates a platform for observers being observed, shifting power from the once dark room out to the open. 

    (pp7-9) "Panopticon, on the other hand, has a role of amplification;" - there are other forces besides power. The intent of the Panopticon within intends to strengthen society through the economy, education, and public morality. To achieve this intent, the concept needs to be implemented into the foundations of society and exercised continuously to make it a consistent driver disciplinary driver. Foucault breaks down 3 structural requirements for this continuous integration; first, "The functional inversion of the disciplines" which is to fix and prevent malfunctioning components within the society and establish a moral obligation to discipline. Second, "swarming of disciplinary mechanisms" where here points out that additional observation is required outside of the apparatus to monitor and prevent tendential de-institutionalization. And Third, "state-control of the mechanisms of discipline." which meant the establishment of the police apparatus. The police, taking on existing surveillance and enforcement duties, both in a visible and an invisible form, where the existence of secret agents and informers can deter and reduce crime from happening. 

    (pp10-14)"Our society is not of spectacle, but of surveillance;...; it is not that the beautiful totality of the individual is amputated, repressed, altered by our social order, it is rather that the individual is carefully fabricated in it,..." This quote represents the deep roots of our society today. Foucault emphasizes 3 major historical drivers for this social evolution: "...economic, juridico-political and, lastly, scientific..." One of the main points he makes, that from an economical standpoint, it is more affordable to use disciplinary power to create a 'utopian' society with high production than by satisfying everyone's individual needs. Furthermore, the juridico-political disciplines are not independent but were able to provide for the formal, juridical liberties to be constituted. And lastly, the Panoptic techniques helped the establishment of schools and hospitals as apparatus, enabling subjection through knowledge as a link to provide the evolution of further branches such as "clinical medicine, psychiatry, child psychology, educational psychology, the rationalization of labour."

Conclusion: I couldn't help but immediately think of George Orwell's novel 1984, in which a 'utopian' society is achieved by close surveillance and institutional control to ensure a continuous state of power. We are experiencing the pandemic of our times today. We can somewhat relate to the plague, but we can also see that the disciplinary actions used in the middle ages no longer work and are sabotaged within the Panoptic system itself. Today, many of the contradictions and differences in our society root from social interactions that have both benefits and liabilities like globalism and social media. There are many benefits for both in our society, connecting people all around the world, yet they partially act as a major blockade to get the pandemic under control. Furthermore, the established apparatus explained by Foucault helped us evolve as a society but at the same time, stopping us to think outside of the box and evolve further, thinking of major educational or policing reforms, of which both received a negative backlash of their systemic problems. Lastly, surveillance has gotten out of control, it is no longer just about criminal deterrence, but about absolute control for whoever possesses our data collected by social media and internet services, which is now used for personalized psychological manipulation to influence political and consumer choices. 


Keywords:

  • Panopticonism: the concept of surveillance through the example of a visible peripheral prison cell with an unverifiable observation tower in the center.
  • Discipline: control gained by enforcing obedience or order - orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior
  • Apparatus: the functional processes by means of which a systematized activity is carried out
  • Deterrence: the act or process of deterring, such as the inhibition of criminal behavior by fear especially of punishment

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