Study Task 3

Choose an example of one aspect of contemporary culture that is, in your opinion, panoptic. Write an explanation of this, in approximately 400 words, employing key Foucauldian language, such as 'Docile Bodies' or 'self-regulation, and using not less than 5 quotes from the text 'Panopticism' in Thomas, J. (2000) 'Reading Images', NY, Palgrave McMillan. 

refer also to the lecture, 'Panopticism' (25 /10 /12), and the accompanying seminar.

This also applies with contemporary surveillance to reinforce social divisions. Citizens are watched with contemporary tactics, which are enormously varied and would include a database for employers containing the a persons details, home address, banking information and other sensitive material. Similarly a supervisior on shift monitors behavior, emails and phone calls in an office enviorment. Although they cannot be watching everyone at all times, employees are aware of their presence and therefore act accordingly.  This is a situation most employees would be familiar with and even aware of their resposnse to a person in authority being nearby, yet probably wouldn’t consider it to be a form of panopticism.

Moreover, the likes of department stores and ATM cash machines use surveilence to monitor users, such as cctv. Knowing that you are being watched means you are less likely to steal or commit criminal activity. Even those that do chose to hide their identity or remain some how out of sight. Crime prevention relies on many panoptic tenchinques, surveilence just being the obvious, compulsory prevision of DNA samping, drug and alcohol testing, even thermal imaging are all methods put in place which affect societies behavior.  More sophisticated equipment allows scanners to pick up cellular and cordless phone communication, for those making untoward phone calls, in some cases they will be aware of their conversation being monitored, maybe using code names or cryptic messages.  Law enforment are even permitted to use polygraphs to determine accuracy and honesty with those providing information to them on cases by monitoring brain waves. Because of these techniques, divisions in society are controlled, as it tends to be those of upper class – politicians or governmental forces that seem to have the power over the above techniques. Controlling the citizens in mass tends to leave to a dispute between these hierarchies.

As Foucault argues, the ‘panoptic gaze is used by society to internalize the displiplne of the self, it internalize the rules and regulations of the State in the social body.’ This therefore highlights that the idea suggests that there is power circulating through social practices, and that power is preserved through economical and technological statuses.  With a rise in computer and internet societies, people can develop new ways of information gathering and uprising, with new forms of ‘the crowd’ in virtual form instead of physical presence as society is produced and meditated in large parts by computer technology.