Panopticism is a social theory developed by Michel Foucault, a French philosopher. It is based around social relationships, discipline and power and how humans can be controlled. This theory of panopticism can be applied to many aspects of modern day society as everything we do is under surveillance, one example to focus on is the modern day offices.
“Two ways of exercising power over men, of controlling their relations, of separating out their dangerous mixtures” (Foucault in Thomas, J, 2000: 62)
Modern day offices have systems where by each person must sign in, or swipe in. This is done for reasons office workers are told, of security. It is a way of stopping theft, as everyone who is in the building is an employer and is also for reasons of safety such as in the event of a fire. By telling workers that swiping in is done for their benefits only, they will feel more obliged to conform, as it is for their own good. This is a way of having power over someone, as Foucault states in the above quote, it is a way of 'exercising power over men, of controlling their relations..'. No questions are asked about if the data collected from swiping in is used for anything else, it could be being used for monitoring the workers, checking what time they are arriving/ leaving, are they getting back from their lunch on time etc, it could be used against the worker, but the workers are unaware as they are docile bodies and following instructions as they are only told about the benefits.
“Full lighting and the eye of a supervisor capture better than darkness, which ultimately protected. visibility is a trap” (Foucault in Thomas, J, 2000: 64)
Most offices today are bright spaces where everything is open plan. There are no corners no doors, no private areas, even if their is an individual office room, the walls are quite often made out of glass. The office is a bright space with optimum visibility, everyone can see everyone, you as a worker are constantly on show. The bright feeling of the office may come across, or be sold as, a positive thing. Bright light equals a positive atmosphere, so once again people are trapped in the mentality of it being beneficial to them, where actually it is done for benefit of the higher powers to have full visibility of their workers.
“He is seen, but he does not see; he is the object of information, never a subject in communication.” (Foucault in Thomas, J, 2000: 65)
In normal life you engage in the gaze, you scrutinise a person, and that person does it back, you are the subject and the object in one moment. Where as in the open plan, high visibility office, you are the object. You are the one who is under scrutiny, thus making you the venerable one, the constant awareness of being seen is a way of asserting power over the employer as they are not able to return the gaze.
“And this invisibility is a guarantee of order. ” (Foucault in Thomas, J, 2000: 65)
In the office the boss is usually the only one who has privacy, they might be in a glass office, but with the power of blinds, or glass where you can see out but people can not see in. The fact that the boss or person of power can't be seen themselves causes the fear of not knowing if the boss is in or not, but as you don't know you can not risk slacking off, you feel constantly visible and in a state of permanent surveillance. If the boss was visible the employers would know when he is not in his office and he would lose control and power.
“He who is subjected to a field of visibility, and who knows it, assumes responsibility for the constraints of power; he makes them play spontaneously upon himself; he inscribes in himself the power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection” (Foucault in Thomas, J, 2000: 66)
The above quote from Foucault describes how due to constant surveillance people begin to correct themselves without being told. You become a docile body who acts in a 'correct manor' and does as they should, not because they are being told to or threatened but because they willingly want to. There is not resistance to power, you become obedient and self correcting. You stay in the office till the end, you're on time, you do the work, you don't mess around, everything runs like clockwork, and this is all due to the fact you are on show in the open plan office and under scrutiny and surveillance from higher powers.
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