FOUCAULT’S PANOPTICISM AND

THE DISCIPLINARY SOCIETY

 In the Text Foucault is analyzing the idea of panopticism in correlation
to discipline, analizes discipline itself as one of the most effective tools of power
and shows along historic events from the middle ages till the mid 19th century,
how the disciplinary society emerged.

1. The role of historic Pandemics

2. The Panopticon as a spacial idea

3. The formation of a disciplinary society

4. Panopticism and surveillance today

 THE ROLE OF HISTORIC PANDEMICS
LEPROCY in 11th-14th CENTURY

Societies reaction to leper was based on:

- binary division (sick/healthy)
- marking/branding
- excluding and exiling the sick
—> dream of a perfectly pure society

LEPER
ca. 1000 -1350
 THE ROLE OF HISTORIC PANDEMICS
THE PLAQUE OF LONDON in 1665/66

the reaction to the plaque was based on:

- quarantine, system of permanent registration
- segmentation and institutionalizing
- society became body of militia
—> dream of a perfectly governed and disciplined society

UE OF L

LEPER PLAQUE OF LONDON

ca. 1000-1350 1665/66
 THE BIRTH OF MODERN DISCIPLINAIRY MECHANISMS
COMBINING BOTH METHODS

A combination of both disciplinary methods

became basis of all disciplinary
mechanisms from the 18th century on

- binary branding: marking the abnormal

- analysing, measuring and correcting the abnormal
- institutionalizing

LEPER PLAQUE OF LONDON FOLLOWING DISCIPLINARY MECHANISMS

ca. 1000-1350
+ 1665/66 = from 18th Century on
"Exercising individual control, functioning to a double mode"
 THE PANOPTICON
AS AN ARCHITECTONICAL/ SPATIAL CONCEPT

- radiant cells in a peripheric ring with no possibility to

communicate with each other (observed)

- tower in the centre (observer)

- observer cant be seen by the observed due to light

reflections in the tower windows

- constant visibility becomes the main factor in the

disciplinary institution

- can be applied not only for prisons but for many other
institutions where control, observation and hirarchical power
structures are needed, such as schools, hospitals and
psychiatric clinics, factories, military barracks etc.
anopticon
y Bentham

BENTHAM’S PANOTICON
1787
 THE PANOPTICON

PERMANENT AXIAL VISIBILITY

LATERAL INVISIBILITY
 THE PANOPTICON

Plan for a penitentiary, 1840. N. Harou - Romain Stateville Correctional Center

 THE PANOPTICON
FORMAL PRECEDENT

1663 Menagerie of Versailles, Louise Le Vaux

 THE PANOPTICON
PRAGMATIC PRECEDENT

Dungeon in Nuremberg
 THE PANOPTICON
MILITARY CAMPS

1780. Military Camp Sachsenhausen Plans

 THE PANOPTICON
HOSPITALS

One of the wards in the hospital at Scutari 1957 Rochester Methodist Hospital Radial Nursing Unit
By William Simpson
 THE PANOPTICON
SCHOOLS

1800 Classroom in USA 1883 Victorian School

 THE PANOPTICON
AS A SCHEME OF POWER RELATIONS

So the panoptic model does not work only

as a spatial concept, but as a generalizable
model of power-relations

constant asymmetric visibility/surveillance

produces discipline

through this discipline it never has to intervene and

gets a preventive and automatic, self-stabilizing
character
 THE FORMATION OF A DISCIPLINARY SOCIETY
IN late 17th, 18th and 19th CENTURY

1 inward focusing and disciplining the 2 swarming of disciplinary 3 state-contol of disciplinary

existing apparatus mechanisms mechanisms

- reformation of army regulations shift from one major compact institution of responsibility over disciplinary institutions
- restructuring of hospitals, discipline and control ( e.g. in feudalism) shifted from the private/religious sector to
- increasing popularity of disciplinary school to more spread out, flexible and less visible the government
models etc. ones —> many little institutions and —> e.g. founding of a generalized
- houses of correction (19th century) etc. apparatuses are assuring discipline police in France 1667

GRADUATE EXTENSION OF DISCIPLINARY MECHANISMS AND INSTITUTIONS IN THE 17th, 18th and 19th CENTURY
HISTORICAL ASPECTS THAT ARE LINKED TO THE FORMATION OF THE
DISCIPLINARY SOCIETY
1 economic aspects
general conjuncture in the 18th century due to:
- demographic thrust —> more people to be
supervised
- growth and more complexity in the sector of
production

- discipline obtains power on the lowest

possible cost (by prevention, little resistance,
relatively invisible etc.
- discipline brings the effects of power to a
maximum intensity
- discipline increases the output of the
apparatus

discipline is a mechanism of power, that

correlates perfectly with the productive efficiency
of an apparatus. Feudal power or an
administrative monarchy had been much more
‚costly‘
HISTORICAL ASPECTS THAT ARE LINKED TO THE FORMATION OF THE
DISCIPLINARY SOCIETY

2 juridico-political aspects

universal juridicism seems to set limit on

the exercise of power in modern society,
but:
discipline function as a counter-law:
—> discipline can be seen a suspension of
law, works just on a smaller scale, defines
and hirarchises individuals towards each
other

discipline seem to work as the most

important political tactic, where the impact
of laws and regulations have their limit.
HISTORICAL ASPECTS THAT ARE LINKED TO THE FORMATION OF THE
DISCIPLINARY SOCIETY

3 scientific/technological aspects

The age of enlightenment gave birth to

many branches of science and cleared the
way for our modern understanding of
sciences.
scientific authority slowly began to replace
religious authority. General will to analyze,
measure, compare etc.

corresponds with the idea of analyzing,

measuring, branding and correcting the
abnormal
new technologies can obviously also be
useful to reinforce power and surveillance

„the formation of knowledge and the

increase of power reinforce one another in a
circular process“
 TIMELINE: METHODS OF DISCIPLINATING SOCIETY

Pre-modern Society Modern Society

14th century 17th century 18th century 19th century 20th century Today

World Wide Web

First centralized police Industrial Revolution Gestapo Cold War 1989
1667 1760-1840 1930-1945 1947-1991
Leper Plague of London
11-14th century 1665-1666

Spectacle

Surveillance
 PANOPTICISM TODAY

pre-modern-society modern-society

PANOPTICON DIGITALISM

occupants are constanlty with the internet the state

aware of the treath of being of surveillance is invisible
watched +
+ people do not feel
physical sense of exposure exposed in the private
to autority space of browsing

ASIMMETRICAL
SURVEILLANCE

the occupant is always the Data are however under

object of information, but surveillance of
never a subject of governments and
communication corporations

“Panopticon” documentary film by Peter Vlemmix, 2012.

“Does the fact that we don’t know we are being watched mean
we are being normalized in the way the Panopticon was
intended to correct behavior?”
SURVEILLANCE AND HEALTH
Surveillance is a core of all public health systems

COVID-19 new surveillance techniques

Taiwan: access to phone location to see if someone is

breaking quarantine (movement --> notify authorities)
China: drones to control people’s movement
+ data about temperature

Governments emanating new temporary laws or decrees

+
Increase the surveillance using digital media

people willingly participating in this surveillance

social media reveal the complicity of people to this surveillance system (Hashtags,
data sharing...)

COVID-19

STATE OF EXCEPTION

EXTENSION OF POWER OF GOVERNMENTS

Pandemics strengthen and justify a shift to more intense and penetrating forms
of surveillance culture
 THE BLACK BOX

They are playing a game. They are playing at not

playing a game. If I show them I see they are, I

shall break the rules and they will punish me.

I must play their game, of not seeing I see the game.

R.D. Laing

[Link], Aforism 1
Google data Center, Douglas County, Georgia.
FORMS OF SURVEILLANCE IN OUR CULTURE ACCORDING TO PANOPTICISM?
 DISCUSSION

How much of a disciplinary society are we today?

Does the fact that we don’t know we are being watched mean we are
being normalized in the way the Panopticon was intended to correct
behavior?