Summary Foucault begins with a description of measures to be taken against the plague in the seventeenth century: partitioning of space and closing off houses, constant inspection and registration. While the quarantine of the 17th Century town was temporary, Panopticon became a new way of life and it "spread throughout the whole social body. Read Full Essay. Human Sexuality Michel Foucault. Of course, the quarantine was only a temporary measure while the system of Panopticon is permanent, and the michel foucault panopticism essay of control and surveillance were still primitive and crude in a preindustrial society. The panopticon induces a sense of permanent visibility that ensures the functioning of power, michel foucault panopticism essay.
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Panoptism Michel Foucault used the term Panoptism all-seeing to describe the methods of control and surveillance used by industrial society to discipline and control the lower classes, whether in factories, schools, hospitals, mental institutions or other bureaucratic institutions. In these, everyone is under constant observation and surveillance, being analyzed, evaluated and regulated, and the most extreme versions of this system would be found in police states like Nazi Germany or Stalin's Soviet Union, michel foucault panopticism essay. He began his chapter of Panopticism with a description of a 17th Century town under quarantine for the plague. This was not yet the full-fledged machine of control that would emerge in the 19th and 20th Centuries but only a hint of things to come.
Of course, the quarantine was only a temporary measure while the system of Panopticon is permanent, and the methods of control and surveillance were still primitive and crude in a preindustrial society. Nor did these pre-modern societies even have the intention of totally controlling and disciplining the entire population in this way, which is strictly a modern idea. To be sure, feudal aristocracies were highly oppressive to the slaves, peasants and serfs, while women and children were trapped in patriarchal family structures, and political and religious dissent was not tolerated, but the real totalitarian police state was a 20th Century development.
In order to control the epidemicthe town officials ordered everyone to remain inside for a certain period under threat of death. Even their food would be brought michel foucault panopticism essay them by the guards and officials, who alone would be allowed to move about freely, except for the 'crows' collecting the dead bodies. This quarantined town was "a segmented, immobile, frozen space," much like the prison Jeremy Bentham described in Panopticon Foucault It had guards at the gates and in every neighborhood, to ensure that no one went outside and that they obeyed all regulations. Every day, town officials with registry lists of inhabitants took roll call to determine if any sick or dead persons were being hidden. As in Bentham's model prison, they observed "everyone locked up in his cage, everyone at his window, answering to his name and showing herself when asked" Foucault It was a very early model of a hierarchical, authoritarian bureaucracy, operating in the name of public healtha "compact model of the disciplinary mechanism" operating "by means of an omnipresent and omniscient power " that observes and records everything Foucault Foucault called the early modern era the Great Confinement, in which the state created new institutions like prisonshospitals and asylums to control the lower classes.
To the ruling elites, society appeared to be too chaotic and disorderly, with epidemics, rebellions, bandits, paupers and vagabonds roaming michel foucault panopticism essay town streets. Gradually, these people were categorized, studied and locked up, as were the rebellious young in "the psychiatric asylum, the penitentiary, the reformatory, the approved school " Foucault Nor was it any accident that all these institutions came to resemble the factories that were coming into existence at the same time, since they all used the same model.
Foucault claimed that Bentham's Panopticon prison was that model, with its observation tower in the center that could keep all the workers-students-prisoners under continual surveillance. Each of these would be separated and isolated in cells, no matter whether a "madman, a patient, a condemned man or a schoolboy" Foucault They would have no possibility of communication or collective action against the system, which would simply function automatically like any other machine. Bentham stated that power should be visible but unverifiable in the sense that it would be able to watch everyone at all times, but they would never know when they were being watched.
Blinds and partitions would prevent the prisoners from knowing exactly when the guards were looking at them, but they would michel foucault panopticism essay forget that they might be watching. These guards did not have to be particularly intelligent or well-trained any more than unskilled factory workers. Nor did their motives matter, michel foucault panopticism essay, no matter whether they were driven by curiosityboredom, sadism or perversion since "any individual, taken almost at randomcould operate the machine" Foucault Panopticon did not even look like one of the old fortress prisons or asylums, and was cheaper to construct than these. It could also be a "machine to carry out experiments, to alter behavior, to train or michel foucault panopticism essay individuals," and to michel foucault panopticism essay which methods of Even better, the supervisors could also spy on the guards, teachers or foremen without being observed, to ensure that they carried out their assigned tasks.
There were about years between Foucault' s quarantined town and the sleek, efficient, scientific machine described in Michel foucault panopticism essay. It took time for the machinery to become perfected, and of course there michel foucault panopticism essay always new technologies of surveillance and control like television and computers that Bentham could not have imagined. These made the duties of the guards and officials even more efficient and automated -- and remote from humanity -- but the main point of Panopticon was that "in each of its applications it makes possible to perfect the exercise of power" Foucault While the quarantine of the 17th Century town was temporary, Panopticon became a new way of life and it "spread throughout the whole social body.
This machine would become self-perpetuating like a cancer or virusand would have no end. Bentham, michel foucault panopticism essay, the utilitarianimagined that it would soon extend everywhere, creating a new society "penetrated through and through with disciplinary mechanisms" Foucault Panopticism in Real Life Jeremy Bentham was a liberal, even a radical, who wanted Britain to become a more humane and democratic societyand he would have been appalled at the idea that his Panopticon would be compared to George Orwell'sor real life totalitarian police states like Nazi Germany or Stalin's Russia. Indeed, Orwell was also prophetic about the contemporary surveillance society, with closed-circuit television cameras everywhere that use computer technology to michel foucault panopticism essay all citizens under observation and programmed to seek out undesirable behavior.
Certainly such constant surveillance and control is commonplace in any modern prison or penitentiary, and increasingly in schools, shopping centers, parking areas and other public spaces. Inthe state required all citizens to have telescreens which were kept on at all times, and could see and speak to anyone, nor matter whether they know they were under surveillance at any given moment. Bentham believed that his new system of confinement and correction would be far more ethical and kind than the old-fashioned methods that depended heavily on tortureflogging and capital punishmentmichel foucault panopticism essay, but for libertarians like Foucault, they were a technocratic nightmare of science being used to police an entire society.
He noted that the capitalist prison, factory, michel foucault panopticism essay, school and prison were all authoritarian and hierarchical, based on the same model of close supervision of students, workers and inmates. Postmodernist philosophers and historians like Foucault can be very opaque and difficult to comprehend, michel foucault panopticism essay, using jargon and terminology that means little to the uninitiated. Michel foucault panopticism essay was gay, and more of a New Left anarchist or libertarian than an Old Left Marxist or socialist. A great admirer of the California hippie and gar counterculture, he had a natural and instinctive aversion to all the bureaucratic institutions of society, such as schools, prisons and psychiatric hospitals.
Even though these claimed to be rational and efficient, Foucault argued that behind this mask they were in fact insane and repressive. He did claim that modern society was overregulated michel foucault panopticism essay his message was not always clearly defined, and his view of discipline was too broad and too generalized. His book and this section were needlessly complicated in the manner of the French philosophers, using big words and unfamiliar terms that limited his audience to the small minority that could understand them. His style often seemed boring and caused him to lose even more readers, and he sounded almost arrogant at times when he found commonalties to back his arguments. His example of the village affected by plague was michel foucault panopticism essay and does not incorporate the whole situation.
In this case, the plague had been ravaging Europe since the 14th Century and there were no michel foucault panopticism essay medical treatments to control it. These government officials had learned through hard experience that such epidemics spread very quickly and could wipe out an entire city in a very short time, michel foucault panopticism essay. Quarantine was the only method they had that might have been remotely able to slow down the spread of diseaseeven though they were hampered by not knowing its cause and by the crowded, unsanitary living conditions of those times.
No doubtthey carried out these measures in a highly oppressive, authoritarian manner, with no questions or dissent allowed, but that was the nature of…. WORKS CITED Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Vintage Books, michel foucault panopticism essay, Conformity and Obedience BEYOND CONSCIOUS AWARENESS Influences of Conformity michel foucault panopticism essay Obedience The Concepts of Conformity and Obedience Compared Obedience is a form of social influence in which a person of authority makes a direct command to someone to perform something McLeod, Conformity is another form of social influence brought about by social, michel foucault panopticism essay. Women may be especially motivated to maintain the positive affect of others, or to at least limit the negative affect.
Daubman, and Sigail 75 This tendency towards conforming to the group may also be the basis behind the psychology of eating disorder in young adolescent women attempting to conform to the norm. This normative social pressure may explain women attempting to attain Somme idealized ideal body type by extreme forms. Yet, if some players use them, others will feel the pressure to use them as well, in order to compete. Because the big leaguers to it, they think it is OK to do it too, michel foucault panopticism essay the practice could start early for many athletes. If they give, michel foucault panopticism essay. Conformity and Rebellion in Works by Amy Tan, Martin Luther King Jr, michel foucault panopticism essay.
rebellion, to do something that is expected, or "has always been done," or to rebel against expectation or convention, is common in both life and literature. Three short stories, by Amy Tan; Herman Melville, and Shirley Jackson, and the essay "Letter from Birmingham Jail" by Martin Luther King Jr. The amount of knowledge that we have even setting aside the amount of wisdom that might accompany this tends to make people more sure of themselves and thus less subject to want to change themselves to match others. We determined to test the above ideas about a relationship between age and the urge to conform. The anonymity of exile does not provide her with the conditions in which to live the purposeful life she intended for herself. Her spiritedness and independence of mind, which contributed to her erotic rebellion, are displaced, and in many respects irrelevant, away from this specific moral community of faith.
She returns older and, it seems, less ambitious about radical reform of the community. Yet her return is an exceptional. Learning Tools Study Documents Writing Guides About us FAQs Our Blog Citation Generator Flash Card Generator Login SignUp. Download this Essay in word format. Excerpt from Essay : Panoptism Michel Foucault used the term Panoptism all-seeing to describe the methods of control and surveillance used by industrial society to discipline and control the lower classes, whether in factories, schools, hospitals, mental institutions or other bureaucratic institutions, michel foucault panopticism essay.
It could also be a "machine to carry out experiments, to alter behavior, to train or correct individuals," and to determine which methods of. Read Full Essay. Conformity and Obedience Beyond Conscious Awareness Influences Words: Length: 6 Pages Topic: Sociology Paper : Conformity Gender and Conformity Has Words: Length: 7 Pages Topic: Women's Issues - Sexuality Paper : Conformity: Steroids in Baseball Steroids Words: Length: 7 Pages Topic: Sports Paper : Conformity and Rebellion Words: Length: 5 Pages Topic: Music Paper : Conformity As a Function of Words: Length: 5 Pages Topic: Women's Issues - Sexuality Paper : Conformity and Oppression in Nathaniel Words: Length: 5 Pages Topic: Literature Paper :
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They would have no possibility of communication or collective action against the system, which would simply function automatically like any other machine. Bentham stated that power should be visible but unverifiable in the sense that it would be able to watch everyone at all times, but they would never know when they were being watched. Blinds and partitions would prevent the prisoners from knowing exactly when the guards were looking at them, but they would never forget that they might be watching. These guards did not have to be particularly intelligent or well-trained any more than unskilled factory workers. Nor did their motives matter, no matter whether they were driven by curiosity , boredom, sadism or perversion since "any individual, taken almost at random , could operate the machine" Foucault Panopticon did not even look like one of the old fortress prisons or asylums, and was cheaper to construct than these.
It could also be a "machine to carry out experiments, to alter behavior, to train or correct individuals," and to determine which methods of Even better, the supervisors could also spy on the guards, teachers or foremen without being observed, to ensure that they carried out their assigned tasks. There were about years between Foucault' s quarantined town and the sleek, efficient, scientific machine described in Panopticon. It took time for the machinery to become perfected, and of course there were always new technologies of surveillance and control like television and computers that Bentham could not have imagined. These made the duties of the guards and officials even more efficient and automated -- and remote from humanity -- but the main point of Panopticon was that "in each of its applications it makes possible to perfect the exercise of power" Foucault While the quarantine of the 17th Century town was temporary, Panopticon became a new way of life and it "spread throughout the whole social body.
This machine would become self-perpetuating like a cancer or virus , and would have no end. Bentham, the utilitarian , imagined that it would soon extend everywhere, creating a new society "penetrated through and through with disciplinary mechanisms" Foucault Panopticism in Real Life Jeremy Bentham was a liberal, even a radical, who wanted Britain to become a more humane and democratic society , and he would have been appalled at the idea that his Panopticon would be compared to George Orwell's , or real life totalitarian police states like Nazi Germany or Stalin's Russia. Indeed, Orwell was also prophetic about the contemporary surveillance society, with closed-circuit television cameras everywhere that use computer technology to keep all citizens under observation and programmed to seek out undesirable behavior.
Certainly such constant surveillance and control is commonplace in any modern prison or penitentiary, and increasingly in schools, shopping centers, parking areas and other public spaces. In , the state required all citizens to have telescreens which were kept on at all times, and could see and speak to anyone, nor matter whether they know they were under surveillance at any given moment. Bentham believed that his new system of confinement and correction would be far more ethical and kind than the old-fashioned methods that depended heavily on torture , flogging and capital punishment , but for libertarians like Foucault, they were a technocratic nightmare of science being used to police an entire society.
He noted that the capitalist prison, factory, school and prison were all authoritarian and hierarchical, based on the same model of close supervision of students, workers and inmates. Postmodernist philosophers and historians like Foucault can be very opaque and difficult to comprehend, using jargon and terminology that means little to the uninitiated. He was gay, and more of a New Left anarchist or libertarian than an Old Left Marxist or socialist. A great admirer of the California hippie and gar counterculture, he had a natural and instinctive aversion to all the bureaucratic institutions of society, such as schools, prisons and psychiatric hospitals. Even though these claimed to be rational and efficient, Foucault argued that behind this mask they were in fact insane and repressive.
He did claim that modern society was overregulated but his message was not always clearly defined, and his view of discipline was too broad and too generalized. His book and this section were needlessly complicated in the manner of the French philosophers, using big words and unfamiliar terms that limited his audience to the small minority that could understand them. His style often seemed boring and caused him to lose even more readers, and he sounded almost arrogant at times when he found commonalties to back his arguments. His example of the village affected by plague was one-sided and does not incorporate the whole situation. In this case, the plague had been ravaging Europe since the 14th Century and there were no effective medical treatments to control it.
These government officials had learned through hard experience that such epidemics spread very quickly and could wipe out an entire city in a very short time. Quarantine was the only method they had that might have been remotely able to slow down the spread of disease , even though they were hampered by not knowing its cause and by the crowded, unsanitary living conditions of those times. No doubt , they carried out these measures in a highly oppressive, authoritarian manner, with no questions or dissent allowed, but that was the nature of…. WORKS CITED Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison. Vintage Books, Conformity and Obedience BEYOND CONSCIOUS AWARENESS Influences of Conformity and Obedience The Concepts of Conformity and Obedience Compared Obedience is a form of social influence in which a person of authority makes a direct command to someone to perform something McLeod, Conformity is another form of social influence brought about by social.
Women may be especially motivated to maintain the positive affect of others, or to at least limit the negative affect. Daubman, and Sigail 75 This tendency towards conforming to the group may also be the basis behind the psychology of eating disorder in young adolescent women attempting to conform to the norm. This normative social pressure may explain women attempting to attain Somme idealized ideal body type by extreme forms. Yet, if some players use them, others will feel the pressure to use them as well, in order to compete.
Bentham decreed that power should be visible yet unverifiable. The prisoner can always see the tower but never knows from where he is being observed. The possibility that the panopticon is based on the royal menagerie at Versailles is raised. The Panopticon allows on to do the work of a naturalist: drawing up tables and taxonomies. It is also a laboratory of power, in which experiments are carried out on prisoners and staff. The plague-stricken town and the panopticon represent transformations of the disciplinary programme. The first case is an exceptional situation, where power is mobilized against an extraordinary evil. The second is a generalized model of human functioning, a way of defining power relations in everyday life. The Panopticon is not a dream building, but a diagram of power reduced to its ideal form.
It perfects the operations of power by increasing the number of people who can be controlled, and decreasing the number needed to operate it. It gives power over people's minds through architecture. As it can be inspected from outside, there is no danger of tyranny. The panopticon was destined to spread throughout society. It makes power more economic and effective. It does this to develop the economy, spread education and improve public morality, not to save society. The panopticon represents the subordination of bodies that increases the utility of power while dispensing with the need for a prince.
Bentham develops the idea that disciplines could be dispersed throughout society. He provides a formula for the functioning of a society that is penetrated by disciplinary mechanisms. There are two images of discipline: one the discipline blockade—an exceptional enclosed space on the edge of society; and two the discipline-mechanism—a functional mechanism to make power operate more efficiently. The move from one to the other represents the formation in the seventeenth and eighteenth century of a disciplinary society. Other increasingly profound processes operated: one the functional inversion of disciplines; two the swarming of disciplinary mechanisms; mechanisms begin to circulate openly in society, and are broken down into flexible methods of control; three the state control of discipline, as in the formation of a central police power.
We can talk of the formation of a disciplinary society in the movement from enclosed disciplines to an infinitely extendible "panopticism". The formation of a disciplinary society is connected to several historical processes: one disciplines are techniques of assuring the ordering of human masses that elaborate tactics of power that operate economically and invisibly. These tactics aim to increase the docility and utility of all elements of the system. This corresponds to a population increase, and a rise in the numbers to be supervised.
The development of a capitalist economy led to a situation where these techniques could be operated in diverse regimes. Two the panoptic modality of power is not independent. The disciplines and panopticism are the reverse of a process by which rights are guaranteed. The Enlightenment, which invented the liberties, also invented the disciplines. Three what is new in the eighteenth century is the combination of disciplinary techniques. This occurred within a development of other technologies.
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