Task 1 - Panopticism

For this task I have decided to choose C.C.T.V as my example of Panopticism.

In developed, modern day countries like the U.K we are never far away from a C.C.T.V camera that tracks and watches are every move. Especially in large cities like London, it is impossible not to be recorded by one type of camera or another. As of 2009 there were 4.2 million C.C.T.V cameras on a national network and an average person was reported to be caught on camera over 300 times a day. This number is surely going to rise given the fact that there are already plans for more C.C.T.V to be installed in built up areas.

So why is C.C.T.V a good example of Panopticism?

"He is seen, but he does not see, he is the object of information, never a subject in communication." - Michael Foucault.

Through the many CCTV cameras all over the country, we are being constantly monitored and surveilled. However 4.2 million cameras does not mean 4.2 million eyes. Behind many cameras there will be a select few people that will be observing us while the camera is recording, in this case they will mainly consist of security guards. It will be these people who are constantly watching us. We are merely objects of information that cannot in anyway communicate to the guards behind it.

When we see a security camera we change are behavior. We know that we are being watched and change are actions accordingly. Many security cameras are in fact dummies, objects that successfully carry out the same function as the live ones because we cannot tell ere being watched and it is because of this principle that they work.

"Unverifiable: the inmate must never knowthat he is being looked at at anyone time, but he must be show that he may always be so" - Michael Foucault.

It is also logical to assume that the security guards themselves are being surveilled by other cameras that may not have anyone watching them live, but if an incident were to happen then the tapes could be watched back. The security guards would however change their behavior in front of the cameras completing a panoptic circle.

"the power should be visible and unverifiable. Visible: the inmate will constantly have before his eyes the tall outline of the central from which he is spied upon." - Michael Foucault.