Panoptism

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Panoptism (from the Greek panoptes "all seeing") is a term introduced by the French philosopher Michel Foucault , which describes the increasing monitoring and control mechanisms and the resulting social conformity of the individual in the development of Western society since the 18th century.

The term panoptism is based on the architectural design of a perfect prison , the " Panopticon ", by Jeremy Bentham .

Panoptism as a power phenomenon

According to Foucault, with the “awakening of an interest in the human body” due to the changing relations of production towards capitalism, a more effective mechanism for the control and discipline of society prevailed than was previously the case with the usual repressive power techniques.

This “microphysics of power” is borne by a form of coercion that is increasingly controlling and regulating the population through a network of disciplinary institutions (especially schools, the military, hospitals) that spans all spheres of society: panoptism. The operating principle of panoptism is the knowledge of the constant possibility of observation of a monitored person by his supervisor: “He who is subject to visibility and knows this takes over the means of coercion and plays it off against himself; he internalizes the power relationship in which he plays both roles at the same time; he becomes the principle of his own submission. "

Regardless of any surveillance actually taking place, the individual under potential observation disciplines himself by adapting his behavior to the normative expectations placed on him . Over a longer period of time, this mechanism leads to an internalization of the expected standards, and thus from a cost-intensive external compulsion to a cost-effective self - compulsion ( self-discipline ).

Bentham's Panopticon

Panoptic prison from the Machado dictatorship in Cuba

Constructed as a round building, with the cells along the outer wall, but with viewing windows only towards the inside of the round courtyard, in the middle of which there is a watchtower, Bentham's Panopticon should enable the prisoners to be perfectly monitored with the least possible personnel expenditure.

A consistent further development of this principle leads to further monitoring rooms in concentric circles, so that the monitors themselves are in turn monitored and thus carry out the task assigned to them as disciplined as possible. At the end of these considerations, there is a network of monitored monitors , whose subjective freedom has always been partially predetermined or restricted by internalized power through panoptism.

Panoptism as an Analysis Tool

The philosophical- theoretical considerations on panoptism can be used to analyze today's power structures. The following questions are important:

  • Who or what are the norm-setters whose norms are internalized using the panoptic principle?
  • By which instruments, technical developments and their (potential) practical application are disciplining constraints exerted today? The key words here are, for example, video surveillance , telephone surveillance , and grid searches .

criticism

In his analyzes, Foucault did not assess that the Bentham panoptic model was not built anywhere in Europe. Only two buildings in Illinois (USA) and in Cuba (see above) were realized. Bentham's proposals played a far less role in the architecture of the prison than suggested in Foucault's representations.

The concept of panoptism is often used as a theoretical template and explanatory approach, especially in connection with video surveillance. Due to the spatial non-seclusion of video-monitored areas in everyday urban life, but also due to the legal possibilities (data protection right to information) and the technological self-empowerment (see sousveillance ) of the monitored subjects, the theoretical approach of panoptism has repeatedly been considered inadequate in the scientific debate designated. However, a study by the Viennese sociologist Robert Rothmann recently provided empirical evidence that the panoptic power asymmetry created by video surveillance cannot be canceled, despite existing data protection claims, and thus confirmed the theoretical concept of panoptism.

literature

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michel Foucault: Monitoring and punishing - The birth of the prison. Frankfurt / M. 1992, p. 260
  2. ↑ Hans-Ulrich Wehler: The challenge of cultural history . CH Beck, Munich 1998, p. 53 .
  3. ^ Haggerty, Kevin D .: Tear down the walls: on demolishing the panopticon . In: David Lyon (Ed.): Theorizing Surveillance: The Panopticon and Beyond . Routledge, London, New York 2006, pp. 23-45 .
  4. ^ McCahill, Michael: Beyond Foucault: towards a contemporary theory of surveillance . In: eds Clive Norris, Jason Moran, and Gary Armstrong (Eds.): Surveillance, closed-circuit television and social control . Aldershot: Ashgate, 1998, p. 41-65 .
  5. ^ Robert Rothmann: Video Surveillance and the Right of Access: The empirical proof of panoptical asymmetries . In: Surveillance & Society . tape 15 , no. 2 , May 8, 2017, ISSN  1477-7487 , p. 222-238 ( queensu.ca [accessed November 25, 2017]).
  6. ↑ Miloš Vec: Video surveillance and data protection: The rule of foreign eyes. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung GmbH, August 27, 2014, accessed on November 25, 2017 .