This blog was written circa 2007-08:
For those of you who are unfamiliar with sociological theorists, Michel Foucault was a postmodernist/poststructuralist. He was heavily influenced by the San Francisco LSD scene and involved in its gay community, and unfortunately died of AIDS in 1984, at the age of 62. He studied power, knowledge, and sexuality. I still have a lot to learn about his thought, but will discuss here his exploration of Bentham's architectural concept: the panopticon.
The panopticon was seen as a revolution in total institutions. Built around a central tower, a circular formation of cells, separated from each other, and only viewable by the tower, this construction enabled a form of surveillance unparalleled by former architectural design. In lieu of the dungeon, according to Foucault, this design enabled the watchman, whether present or not to give the prisoners the impression that they are constantly being watched and since they are separated from each other, are rendered unable to conspire with one another.
Foucault points out that this scheme creates a situation where the power is both highly visible and unverifiable. The prisoners can see the tower, know someone that someone could be watching them at any time, yet cannot discern when. This, in turn, trains, if you will, the prisoners to become their own watchman. They, lacking any control over the authority weilded over them, develop a sense of the tower's influence within themselves.
Bentham saw the possibilities for this type of arrangement in the area of schools, orphanages, scientific laboratories, etc. He advocated for the study of human beings in the panoptic structure to eliminate confounding variables. Of course, Foucault saw the insidious implications of this form of control (not to mention the ethical transgressions) and considered it an even more severe form of torture than the former, physical sanctions imposed prior to Bentham's idea.
Foucault mentions that this idea is not completely original, but is unsure if Bentham was aware that it rivaled Le Vaux's menagerie at Versaille, which was more of an animal containment facility for the King. The king, in his central, octagonal salon, was surrounded by cages on seven of the salon's side, where he could monitor his captive animals. The eighth side was where the king entered the menagerie. Of course, in Bentham's creation, humans replace animals.
It is not at all difficult to realize how this type of authority is weilded in our own society. You know you are being watched, but you don't know when or by whom. It is not my intention to sound like a libertarian, conspiracy theorist, but the centralization of control and the group-think enforcement of laws within and among the citizenry is remarkably close to Foucault's prediction in regard to panopticism.
What do you think?
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