Foucault's Panopticon

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Linking the classic and post-modern sociologists is a great intellectual temptation for the social scientist. Indeed, Max Weber and Michel Foucault’s similar focus on manifestations of power and rationality invite comparison, with some going so far as to view Weber as an outright precursor to Foucault (O’Neil, 1986, p. 43). However, doing so risks muddying the complexities of Weber and Foucault’s conceptualisations. Weber sees power, for example, as one of many forces in a multidimensional framework, working in tandem and conflict with other forces (Jiménez-Anca, 2013, p. 43). This may seem at first to resemble Foucault’s interpretation, as he sees power as part of a ‘net-like organisation’ (Foucault, 1986, p. 234), however, to Foucault power takes on a ubiquitous, ever-present nature, as thus …show more content…
In his criticism of Foucault’s conception of the panopticon, C. Fred Alford learned from his visits to prisons, that the empirical reality was of prison differed highly from Foucault’s account. Instead of the panopticons overbearing presence influencing the discipline of the prisoners and the guards, guards cared so little about the inmates, that their only major commitment was to containment (Alford, 2000, p. 125). Apparent programs of organisation born out of the physicality of panopticon, such as the routine of the timetable, and precise psychological characterisation of prisoners had little to no prevalence in practice (Alford, 2000, p. 125). Furthermore, prisoners would simply avoid surveillance through shields of cardboard or blanket, much to the indifference of officials (Alford, 2000, p. 125). Thus, in detailing the panopticon, and similar forms of rationalisation, Foucault utilized the Weberian ‘ideal type’ to a far greater extent than maybe he would have

Foucault's Panopticon

In Michel Foucault’s “Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison,” he talks about the idea of Panopticon. The Panopticon is a circular structure with a guard tower in the center with cells surrounding it on the outside. The purpose of Panopticon is to make the inmates believe that they are being watched at all times, when in reality they might not even be watched at all. This psychological process forces inmates to act accordingly and not do something wrong because they never know when they are…

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Michel Foucault's The Panopticon

varying topics such as sexuality, madness, illness, and knowledge. He battled the argument between the obedient and the disobedient. One of his books tried to explain the relationship between he guard and the prisoner. Through his development of the Panopticon he explained the idea that prisoners were less likely to act out if they understood there was a person of authority watching them. This supervisor or guard of authority knew the rules and was in charge of the punishment. The contrast from guard…

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watched. According to Michel Foucault’s definition, panoticism is “the general principle of a new ‘political anatomy’ whose object and end are not the relations of sovereignty but the relations of discipline” (Foucault 295). It is a practice to discipline the modern society and gone are the days of crucifying and beheading deviants. Panopticism is refined in the vision of Jeremy Bentham’s design of penitentiary, the Panopticon. The architectural structure of Panopticon is composed of a supervisor…

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The Panopticon, or the Panopticon penitentiary, was an architectural device conceived by Jeremy Bentham in the mid-19th century. Greek for “all-seeing”, the Panopticon was based on the underlying principle of the total and constant surveillance of inmates, workers, patients or pupils (Warriar & others, 2002). This proposed prison by Bentham is envisaged as a circular building, with the prisoners' cells arranged around the outer wall and the central point dominated by an inspection tower (UCL Bentham…

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Comparing Foucault's 'Discipline And Punish'

Michel Foucault’s Discipline and Punish is a history of the modern penal system, and an analyzation of how it has evolved into what it presently is. Foucault tackles a number of topics in relation to this, including a detailed section on “panopticism”. The author begins his evaluation of panopticism by discussing how 17th century society dealt with plague. He segues from this into his description of Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon. This is a system wherein every aspect of a prisoner’s life can be viewed…

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Comparison Essay

Foucault uses Jeremy Bentham's idea of the panopticon to demonstrate the impact that constant surveillance has not only on an individual in an institution such as prison, but also on society as a whole. The panopticon is a prison design; a cylindrical building where inmates are invisible to each other, but are visible to a guard station which is located in the center of the building. However guards will not always be watching the inmates to check if they are behaving and following the rules. The whole point of the panopticon is that…

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This article was downloaded by: [Cardiff University] On: 17 September 2012, At: 05:30 Publisher: Routledge Informa Ltd Registered in England and Wales Registered Number: 1072954 Registered office: Mortimer House, 37-41 Mortimer Street, London W1T 3JH, UK Social & Cultural Geography Publication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rscg20 Sound, space and power in a primary school Michael Gallagher a a Centre for Research on Families…

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