Surveillance, Panopticism, and Self-Discipline in the Digital Age

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to revisit the metaphor of the Panopticon, borrowed by Michel Foucault from Jeremy Bentham to describe the development of disciplinary institutions in Western societies from the early nineteenth century, and to examine its relevance for the analysis of modern electronic means of surveillance. Widely used in the early stages of the study of new surveillance technologies, the metaphor of the Panopticon, particularly in the field of 'surveillance studies,' is growingly seen as inadequate to understand the impact of the latest surveillance tools and practices. This paper seeks to show that dominant interpretations of Foucault's use of Panopticon as referring to techniques of domination or to 'power over,' while legitimate as regards some of his earlier writings, overlook Foucault's later works on technologies of the self. That is, in Panoptic dispositifs in particular, as well as in settings involving power/knowledge configurations defining 'normality' more generally, individuals may end up exercising power over themselves without any coercion. It is argued here that the development of modern information and communication technologies may be said to produce a setting, the description of which as 'panoptic' is even more pertinent than was the case with respect to Western societies of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Building upon recent empirical works on the 'chilling effect,' particularly in the wake of Edward Snowden's revelations in 2013, the article discusses modern technologies of the self-self-restraint and self-censorship-that new technologies, enabling different forms of surveillance, produce in Western societies. It also outlines the areas in which the notion of the Panopticon may be useful in terms of guiding research into self-discipline and self-restraint in the context of the proliferation of modern techniques of surveillance.

Being Watched by Tv: Surveillance at Home

“…In some cases, however, there is the emergent interest in examining how the watchers could also include corporations and institutions that had a motive unrelated to discipline and power but more interested in understanding the "market" that the institution would be interested in serving (see, e.g., Manokha, 2018). This is especially true for the type of interactive technologies described in this essay.…”

Sağlık Çalışanları Arasında Panoptik Korku

“…Jeremy Bentham ise bu modeli geliştirmede kendisinden daha genç olan erkek kardeşinden esinlenmiştir. Bentham'ın kardeşi ise Paris'te bir askeri okulda bulunduğu dönemde böylesine bir yapının farkına varmıştır (Manokha, 2018). Foucault (1979), okulun panoptik bir anlayışla yönetilmesinde öğrencilerin cinsel davranışlarını -özellikle de eşcinsellerin -etkin bir şekilde yönetme amacının ağır bastığını ifade etmiştir.…”

“…Panoptikon, daha önce de belirtildiği üzere, modern gözetimi nitelendiren bir metafordur (Foucault, 1979). Kavramın etimolojik yapısı incelendiğinde, Yunanca "pan" ve "optikon" kelimelerinden türetilmiş olup "her yeri gören yer" anlamına gelmektedir f (Bauman & Lyon, 2018 (Foucault, 1980;Manokha, 2018). Bentham (1748Bentham ( -1832, "en çok sayıda kişiye en yüksek düzeyde mutluluk" sözü ile toplum için faydalı olan şeylerin yapılması gerektiğini vurgulayarak faydacı kimliğiyle öne çıkmaktadır g .…”

“…Gözetim olgusu ile ilgili değinmekte fayda gördüğümüz bir kavram soğutma/caydırıcı etki (chilling effect) olarak adlandırılan ve Edward Snowden'ın çalışmalarında yer edinen kavramdır i . Bu etki, gözetim altında olduğunu bilen kişilerin izleyenin norm ve beklentilerine uygun davranışlar sergileyeceğini ifade etmektedir (Manokha, 2018). Bu etki, neo-klasik dönemde insani ilişkiler hareketi öncülerinin -Elton Mayo ve arkadaşlarıelde ettiği bulgularla paralellik göstermektedir.…”

Television as a Surveillance Tool

“…In some cases, however, there is the emergent interest in examining how the watchers could also include corporations and institutions that had a motive unrelated to discipline and power but more interested in understanding the "market" that the institution would be interested in serving (see, e.g., [28]). This is especially true for the type of interactive technologies described in this essay.…”