Michel Foucault's Theory of Panopticism

1. What is the major effect of the Panopticon?

The Major effect of the Panopticon is “to induce in the inmate a state of conscious and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power.”

Michel Foucault

     2. How does the architecture [institution] create and sustain a power relation independent of the person who exercises it?

The institution is able to create and sustain a power relation, independent of the person who exercises it, by following the principle that the power is visible yet unverifiable. The power will always be visible as the tall tower from which the prisoner’s overseers can observe him is always in sight, however for the power to be unverifiable the inmate must be aware that he may always be under watch, while at the same time never being sure of when he actually is. 

     3. In what way is the Panopticon efficient?

The Panopticon is efficient as it removes the need for the use of force. The convict behaves, the madman calms, the worker works and the schoolboy applies himself. Bars, chains and heavy locks are no longer necessary, being replaced by simple geometry and well arranged spaces. In many ways the Panopticon is the perfect institution of detention, allowing for predetermined ‘perpetual victory’ whilst avoiding any physical confrontation.  

     4. How does the Panopticon do the work of a naturalist [scientist]?

The Panopticon allows for the collection of a vast array of research - from determining the differences among patients and observing symptoms without the risk of contagion, to the observation of schoolchildren’s performances. It can even be used financially and mathematically to calculate appropriate wages for workers which correlate with their aptitude. 

     5. In what ways is the Panopticon a laboratory? 

The Panopticon can be seen as a laboratory in that it can be used to carry out experiments, both as a physical institution for housing said experiments and as the machine which, with its many working parts, conducts the experiments itself. These experiments include training or correcting individuals by altering behaviour, monitoring effects of medicines and seeking the most effective punishments for prisoners through active trial.

     6. List the conditions in which Panopticism strengthens power.

Panopticism can assure the productive increase of power, but only if “It can be exercised continuously in the very foundations of society, in the subtlest possible way” whilst at the same time “function[ing] outside these sudden, violent, discontinuous forms that are bound up with the exercise of sovereignty.”

     7. According to Julius (1831), how is the panoptic principle particularly useful in a society made of private individuals and the state?

Julius notes the transformation of society; from one of spectacle, with the aim “to render...the inspection of a small number of objects (in the form of temples, theaters and circuses etc.)...to a multitude of men”, to the opposite, a society of surveillance. As society had lost focus on public life and community it became principally comprised of private individuals and the state, this reversal of focus gave birth to a new aim, one which panopticism fits perfectly - “to [build] and [distribute] buildings intended to observe a great multitude of men at the same time.”

     8. Also according to Julius, rather than suppress the individual, what effect does the panoptic principle have?

Julius suggests that an individual is not suppressed by a social order based on panoptic principles but is instead “fabricated” in it, becoming part of the mechanism itself. This serves as symbiotic relationship where both the individual and the society they belong to can benefit from their involvement.