Foucault's Panopticon

Foucault begins to describe what was done in the 17th century to take precaution against the plague. People were locked inside their homes and given rations of food until the end of the plague. Inspections, registrations and constant purification processes were carried out to create a pure community and disciplined society. These are the two ways of exercising power over man. This was a time of separating anything out of the norm from society.

Foucault moves on to Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon. The Panopticon is a large circular building with a tower in the center. The tower has wide windows with a backlight that allows anyone in the tower to observe without being seen. Quoted from the book best “He is seen, but he does not see: he is the object

of information, never subject of communication.”(Foucault 200) The incarcerated mad men, condemned men, patients, workers and even schoolboys were held individually within small caged cell. All convicted for their distraction to others. This gave Bentham an official authority and power. The Panopticon explained the way discipline and consequence worked in society. It allowed Bentham to draw up differences between patients without anyone imitating or copying. It was used as a laboratory, to carry out experiments, to alter behavior and even train or correct individuals.
There are two images of discipline. The first is discipline blockade, the closed part of society that includes arrests and suspension, the second being the discipline mechanism, which is a way to make power run smoothly. Foucault continues to explain other general forms of operations in disciplinary institutes.
Foucault examines what was done about the plague instead of the plague itself. I realized that plague was against the idea of discipline. The plague was not selective, it had a negative effect toward discipline, and it could affect anyone. The need for surveillance was essential in the towns of the plague, there needed to be a government officials, administrators and guards daily. The plague eliminated the control and order in society. The Panopticon enforced the control. I considered this chapter to relate with the Hawthorne Study, on factory workers and productivity based on light dimming. The increase in productivity was the not because of the changes in physical conditions but rather, the fact that someone was watching and was actually concerned about their workplace. The prisoners being watched all the time made them apart of the study, as long as they knew they were being watched they behaved.
The final question of the chapter ask: “Is it surprising that factories, schools, prisons, and hospital all resemble each other?”(Foucault 228) The state has created these institutions that are controlled like the Panopticon. These institutions are not only similar by appearance but also how they all strive to have a controlled norm within the patients, students, workers and prisoners. Everyone is kept against their will by society, in one way or another. It cannot be escaped, people are stuck with the social norms our society chooses to adopt. It’s surprising how much society hasn’t change.