Foucault's Panopticon

Panopticon, at its core, represents power through knowledge. Foucault's concept came about because of the change in punishment for prisoners and those in insane asylums in the mid-1800s. Reflecting Jeremy Bentham's design, panopticon allowed for a new mode of obtaining information that, unlike forms of torture, did not require a lot of of resources and yielded a lot more valuable results. The idea was that prison guards, and the like, sat in a center tower with the ability the view into each cell and observe the behavior of individual prisoners. What made this new system powerful was that the prisoners knew they were being watched, and as a result, they could altered their behavior. Some actually showed self-norming characteristics. This type of group monitoring was not only limited to prisons, but it could be applied to schools, hospitals, and the rest of society as a whole. Thus, surveillance at an institutional level was born. 

Bentham's representation of Panopticon. Credit:google images

Surveillance during Foucault's time and throughout the 20th century was a top-down, deductive method where the "surveiller," usually a government agent, would deem someone suspicious of a crime and would proceed to monitor their daily activities until their suspicions were confirmed or denied. This was was good old-fashioned spying, as seen in movies where one would stake-out in an all-black vehicle with tinted windows, monitoring a suspect's every move. Surveillance of this nature is known as retail compared to today's wholesale surveillance. In modern societies, technology has helped change the unilateral form of monitoring into a more complex medium of identity exchange. Marketers, insurance companies, healthcare providers, and many more can obtain various forms of identity, be it email or phone number, and sell to others for advertisement purposes. We are being surveilled in a multitude of ways by many, smaller panopticons.

The National Security Agency, NSA, is the ultimate panopticon of American society. In their wholesale method, the NSA collects tons of metadata many people daily, including non-Americans. Though content of data is not disclosed, metadata entails labels about communication. For example, a phone call made can reveal who you are contacting, your location, length of call, and much more, leading people to question whether that level of detailed information is necessary, and even constitutional. In 2013, former NSA contractor Edward Snowden brought the entire nation and the world to a halt when he leaked secret government surveillance files. His argument was and continues to be that government surveillance crosses certain privacy boundaries of its citizens and Americans need to be aware.

Edward Snowden. Credit: wired.com

An NPR article earlier this year presented a debate over whether Snowden was justified in breaking an oath under the constitution. I think Foucault would argue that, in a way, Snowden's actions were both justified and reputable. Foucault wanted society to be aware that they were constantly under surveillance, and by leaking the documents, Snowden did exactly that. However, he would disagree in the manner that Snowden raised awareness; a manner that instilled fear and distrust by some toward the government. One must understand that he/she is being monitored, but it is NOT at the expense of his or her own freedom and livelihood.