Foucault Model Of Panopticon

The first step is via “descending”, which is the course of developing individualized beings in disciplinary societies (Foucault, 1977). As Foucault explains, the sovereign ruling system uses an “ascending” process where the collective health, production, behaviors are aggregated to represent the population. This grants autonomy to individuals within the group to develop themselves in any way that falls within collective ideals. In comparison to a discipline-society, the process of “descending” shifted focus from a collective lot to the individuals in the group. Individual development is micromanaged and pit against the norm and as such, lacks the freedom for diversified development. After adjusting and focusing the angle of management onto

As Marcelo Hoffman puts it, Foucault’s disciplinary model aims to “produce an organic individuality by exerting control over bodily activities” (Hoffman, 2011) Docile bodies become a system of information and not communication. As a result, just like Bentham’s Prison Panopticon, there is only a one-directional flow of information where people subjected to surveillance are malleable. This is very pertinent for modern day society where the use CCTVs are prevalent. The CCTV act as the “watchers” in a giant Panopticon. It is an all-seeing inspector that may not be easily spotted by people and yet, there it has a constant gaze on subjects like the inspector in the central watchtower of a Prison Panopticon. With this knowledge, subjects under scrutiny will internalize the norm inculcated into them through institutions of power and continue to behave “well” despite having already left the institution. This is all achieved using CCTVs. An additional modification to the evolution of a “watcher” is that footages can now be recorded and stored, making CCTVs omnipresent both in space and time. The result of using CCTVs is the docile bodies created to ensure order in the society. This application of Foucault’s theory of Panopticism resonates with many, which might explain the popularity of

Gilles Deleuze observed that there is a shift in systems of surveillance and the way power is exercised – “But everyone knows that these (disciplinary) institutions are finished […] It’s only a matter of administering their last rites and of keeping people employed until the installation of the new forces knocking at the door.” (Deleuze, 1992). Intuitions today have changed drastically, if not radically, from the ones in Foucault’s analysis. This is because the way current society works is heavily influenced by the emerging field of information and communications technology (ICT) wherein the power dynamics of institutions and its individuals are not as delineated as before. With that shift, Deleuze proposed that control rather than discipline is the motivation of governance (Deleuze,