30th Sep2012

Week 6 Questions

by alexcarson

1: I would like to begin by saying that I see the Panopticon as being potentially an analogy for the web of digital information which ensnares virtually every action we take, particularly through its demonstrated power of observation. While the following is not the point of Foucault’s work, I do wonder if one could account for resistance to that system, though. Just as internet users have devised means to resist the system via means that the system itself can not yet control, would it be possible for individuals in the Panopticon to undermine the intentions of the overseer through civil disobedience. Foucault’s answer to that is likely dismal (in the long-term, no), but I think Foucault’s use of the Panopticon automatically raises the question of if one can get out or if order can be disrupted on a permanent and meaningful basis.

2: The opposite question raised by the comparison of Panopticism to the digital age, however, is if it’s actually effective as a means to control behavior. Despite an ever-thickening digital web, there has been no marked drop in crime rates or deviant behavior, and if anything both of these have been in some way encouraged by the omni-presence of digital technology and tracking. Is this a deficiency in the metaphor, or is there some variety of behavior for which Foucault does not account which undermines the implementation of a Panoptic system?

3: And drawing from the above (again), perhaps the metaphor is a flawed one because a lot of people do not realize that they are in a Panoptic scenario. An essential part of the Panopticon as a socializing influence on criminals and the insane is that they are aware that they are under constant surveillance. While this may be the reality of the digital era, it is by no means one which is completely or even widely known or realized in day-to-day activities. Does the metaphor fail because authority has not made itself explicitly known? Does there need to be a physical component?

Discipline: A mechanism of power that regulates behavior. I think our society generally conceives of discipline as either a punishment or a refinement of behavior, but does not always put the two concepts together in one definition. Foucault demonstrates this combination in his writing and how such mechanisms are used by power structures to promote desired behavior.

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