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Panopticism Michel Foucault’s essay on the panopticon, and how it is used as a method of discipline and surveilance can be quite confusing, and for many, takes several readings and hours of pondering to finally be able to somewhat grasp the meanings he is trying to convey. Foucault’s writings deal with control, and he illiustrates this by writing about the panopticon, and how the feeling of being watched can yeild power to the watcher. Foucault writes, “The Panopticon is a marvelous machine which, whatever use one may wish to put it to, produces homogeneous effects in power”. To better understand this quote, it takes critical thinking, and one must understand just exactly how the panopticon extracts its power. The essay begins with Foucault describing the plague, and how the government at the time used the plague as an excuse to create an obedient society where every person has their place, and can be accounted for. However, once the plague had passed the government no longer had the authority to demand a state of complete obedience, it longed to once again have that power. Foucault uses the example of the plague to begin to apply the idea to convicted criminals. He uses the example of the Panopticon, a prison designed in the 19th century, to illustrate the idea that the power of being watched can yeild large amounts of power. The Panopticon can be applied to nearly everything we do in our daily routines. We are watched more than we actually know, yet subconsciously, we realize that whatever actions we do, there are reprocussions. Foucault touches on this subject towards the end of the essay, and says, “Is it surprising that prisons resemble factories, schools, barracks, hospitals, which all resemble prisons?” (Foucault, 253) Here, I believe Foucault is explaining that the methods of control which are used in prisons are applied nearly everywhere the element of control is needed.
Approximate Word count = 1170
Approximate Pages = 4.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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