CTS SEMINAR ONE - PANOPTISISM

CTS 

SEMINAR ONE

THE UNKNOWN IS MUCH MORE THREATENING 

PANOPTISM , Relies on surveillance 

PANOPTICON MAKES YOU CONFORM- Jeremy bentham designed this prison in 1791, he was an architect , could have been the layout for anything, hospital, school , prison? you are totally isolated , lack of contact with others, make you chance mentally very quickly. lit from the windows, makes the prisoners constantly on display, being watched and visibly to the unknown, the prisoners conform to the idea that someone may or may not be watching you, so you start controlling you re behavior by yourself- SELF REGULATION

the prisoners are visible but unverifiable.

POWER IS A REGULATION - The ruling class of society 'the hierarchy of individuals e.g. feminism, business statuses' Faucault believes the people with power , only have power because they enter themselves into that role/situation , and the people that are getting rules are letting it happen, and exploiting themselves into being on a lower level, e.g we are the students , being ruled by the higher individual , our lecturer , because we are letting him teach us. however , there is always a possibility that we can resist, but as a human we don't always realize this, control is all about people letting others control them by choice, and this is not always obvious to the less powerful. 

question to ask yourself -

WHY AM I BEING CONTROLLED? 

WHO AM I DONG THIS FOR?

WHAT AM I DOING?

a key feature of the prison is that the people watching have to be NOT VISIBLE , especially to the prisoners, and the prisoners have to be VISIBLE at all times, without this it would not work!

Building designed very well!!!

Michel Foucault ' a french philosopher ' was interested in the panopticon not because of its physical form , but because it was like a metaphor for how society was controlled, interested in what the panopticon reflected 'a control through peoples mind' 

ANOTHER KEY POINT - The panopticon also controlls and watched the prison guards, one big circle, an example of this is out lecturers are being watched as well as the students , where theres power there is always resistance !!

1970'S a switch from.....

PHYSICAL CONTROL(an irrational way) -----> MENTAL CONTROL (a more human way)

MODERN DISCIPLINARY SOCIETY 

it is more effective to try and make/persuade people behave than to try and force/push people to behave

THE PANOPTICON, trains you to change you re ways, change and twist you re mind, it is PRODUCTIVE in the way that it phsycalogical focuses the prisoners into becoming a better behaved individual, correcting a person into behaving the way in which you want them to, 

As oppose to a regular prison where it just keep the criminal locked away so they cannot commit a crime again. In turn the individual continues to be a criminal, but they are hidden away and prevented from committing a crime again. 

INSTITUTIONAL GAZE - the idea of an institution to the prisoners, being watched by 'people' as oppose to 'one person' which in turn makes you act as though the law institution wants you to act, how society has coded you to act. 

A DOCILE BODY - "one that may be subjected, used, transformed, and improved. and that this docile body can only be achieved through strict regiment of disciplinary acts"

Foucault argues that we cannot choose to enter modern society; we are controlled utterly by it through it technologies of power

EXAMPLES OF PANOPTISISM - 

*fake cctv cameras on houses to put off burglars 'visible , but you never know if it is recording - a fake threat'

*neighborhood watch - close houses and villages 

*gardeners , do not do it for themselves although they think they are , but they want to impress others in the village , they are not aware of this. 

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