The Panopticon:

Jeremy Bentham, a social-philosopher associated with the Utilitarians, described his

Panopticon as “a new mode of obtaining power of mind over mind” in such quantity that

had no precedent. The Panopticon began, as a concept to allow a smaller number of

managers to oversee the activities of a large and unskilled workforce. It is a circular

building which has a tall observation tower in the centre, surrounded by empty space and

an outer wall which is made up of cells. Each of these cells would hold an occupant

who would be visible and distinguishable to an authoritative figure invisibly positioned in

the tower. Not only would the official be invisible to the occupants but so would each

occupant to the next through the division of cells by concrete walls, completely isolating

and individualising them - thus creating more effective surveillance.

The word “Panopticon” means to literally “observe all”, which is what the architectural

structure conceptually allowed a singular figure to do. Bentham aimed for psychological

control over the inmates within the Panopticon by inducing “a state of conscious and

permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power”. To be successful in

this the inmate would be constantly aware of the possibility of being watched, through the

visibility of the large central tower, however the inmate must never be certain of this, and

must only be certain of the fact that there is never a moment that could not be observed. If

successful, after a time the power would have become internalised and the transition from

discipline to subjection would begin.

Foucaultian Panopticism

The Foucaultian Panopticism was originally formed from Bentham’s published intro...

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Manchester, E. (2006). Santiago Sierra160 cm Line Tattooed on 4 People El Gallo Arte Contemporáneo. Salamanca, Spain. December 2000. Available: http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/sierra-160-cm-line-tattooed-on-4-people-el-gallo-arte-contemporaneo-salamanca-spain-t11852/text-summary. Last accessed March 2014.

Ibid

Ibid