STUDY TASK 3 - panopticism

Foucault believed that there were a number of ways and a number of institutions that could be used as  mechanisms to instil self control and self discipline, using confinement and partitioning to guarantee order within society. In 'Panopticism' in Thomas, J. (2000) 'Reading Images', Foucault looks at systems of a political dream, the techniques used in order to create not only a pure community but a disciplined one. He describes panoptic society as 'the town immobilised by the functioning of an extensive power that bears in a distinct way over all individual bodies - this is the utopia of the perfectly governed city.' Here, Foucault uses the plague and the exile of lepers as his main examples. The plague gave rise to a disciplinary project. It became an imagined ideal of order, a way of separating, individualising and organising through surveillance, control and power. The lepers on the other hand, became rejected, chucked away. If they didn't fit with the model, they became the prime victim to the technique of using power to create partitioning, 'the constant division between the normal and the abnormal, to which every individual is subjected.'

Bentham's Panopticon 'is the architectural figure of this composition.' It is an annular building based on confinement and self control, a place to guarantee order and discipline. In the centre, a watch tower is placed which would be manned by a guard, which instils this fear of an omniscient presence - all seeing, all knowing, all powerful. The peripheral building is then split into cells with windows at the back. You cannot see who is to your left or right, you can only see straight ahead, so you can be observed against the light, 'each actor is alone, perfectly individualised and constantly visible.' The Panopticon is the reverse of a dungeon. The individual knows they are being watched and that they will be suitably punished for stepping out of line, therefore eventually they start behaving automatically. They begin to see no point in misbehaving, because they are aware of the consequences. The option to step out of line is always available, but you become internalised to think about nothing but this path laid out for you. The major effect of this institution is said to be 'to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power. So to arrange things that the surveillance is permanent in it's effects, even if it is discontinuous in it's action.'

Panopticism is of course visible in today's society. There are a number of examples including the open-plan office, the lecture theatre, hospital and even within retail. The shopping experience today, is one heightened with security. Foucault states that surveillance is a 'system of permanent registration' with a constant reminder that you are being watched, as well as a being a permanent reminder of control. It allows everything about you to be recorded, the way you look, what you were wearing, what you were doing. 15% of weekly losses within retail are said to be reduced with the help of technology like surveillance and CCTV cameras. It works in the same way that the 'watch tower' does. It gets to the point where you don't even know if there are cameras in the store, or whether or not they work, but there is that constant reminder which in the mind of an everyday shopper is a good enough reason not to commit crime.

Linking to the lecture on panopticism, Foucault also looked at this idea of a docile body, a self regulation, which is a product of this disciplinary society. 'Power relations have an immediate hold upon it [the body]; they invest it, mark it, train it, torture it, force it to carry out tasks, to perform ceremonies, to emit signs' Foucault, 1975. The body becomes controlled and monitored by everything around it, particularly it's environment and surroundings. In retail, a prime example of this is within IKEA. Within this store, straight away, you have no choice about where you want to go, or what you want to see first. Because of it's structure, IKEA directs you in a way that it wants to. The environment controls you into going through all of it's departments, even if that's not where you want to be. The main reasonings behind this is to create ultimate profit for the brand. People are drawn in very easily by it's cheap prices and product placement. Many individuals end up coming away from shopping experiences with everything they didn't want or didn't need, and by the time you've reached the end, you might as well go and spend money in the cafe. It is impossible to leave the shop without having to go through the entire store first. As well as this, self regulation and monitoring is promoted, not only through the use of directions, but through shop assistants and advisors who are constantly there to watch over you. Not only are they placed there to stop you from committing crime or damage, but they almost make you feel bad if you do not follow the signs, or go in the right direction. Foucault states 'power has its principle not so much in a person as in a certain concerted distribution of bodies, surfaces, lights, gazes; in an arrangement whose internal mechanisms produce the relation in which individuals are caught up'. Here, it is easy to see how one's surroundings can create a self regulated individual as well as society. Techniques of discipline have become extremely pervasive in today's world, producing obedient individuals.

In addition to the methods above, tagging systems are also a major factor in the prevention of theft. Tags are not only extremely visible, but there is that constant reminder that they're there when trying items on. Sometimes it even becomes difficult to view or try on the item properly because of the amount of tags or the positioning of them. They are impossible to remove without an in-store de-tagger, and many even contain ink inside of them in order to prevent self removal. There is no possible way to the leave the store with a tagged item without causing the alarm to go off or by removing the tag yourself and damaging your item, deeming it worthless.

To conclude, although there are large number of methods and techniques used, similar to that of the panoptic methods, evidently they don't stop everyone. The exercise of power relies on there being the capacity for power to be resisted. Where there is power, there is resistance, and although we've become somewhat a surveillance society, crime and theft still continues to increase. The permanent reminder of CCTV culture and control sometimes appears more important than whether or not it is actually useful or if it works.