Post-Panopticism

Abstract

This paper considers the current status of the concept of the Panopticon, and its relevance both for contemporary social theory and for the analysis of recent trends in the public and private surveillance of individual lives. The origins of the concept from the nineteenth century onwards are examined. A description of the space opened up for Panoptical practices and aspirations, by the development of the welfare state and of anthropological categories in the field of crime, helps to explain the continuing importance of the categories of the criminal and the vulnerable for the legitimation of contemporary surveillance, at work, in commerce and on the street. The theoretical arguments in favour of abandoning the concept of the Panopticon (from Bauman, Bogard, Latour and others) are considered under five headings: ” displacement of the Panoptical ideal by mechanisms of seduction ” redundancy of the Panoptical impulse brought about by the evident durability of the self-surveillance functions which partly constitute the normal, socialized, ‘Western’ subject ” reduction in the number of occasions of any conceivable need for Panoptical surveillance on account of simulation, prediction and action before the fact ” supplementation of the Panopticon by the Synopticon ” failure of Panoptical control to produce reliably docile subjects. These arguments are confronted with an illustrative sample of contemporary surveillance and screening activities. The conclusion of the paper is that the Panoptical impulse is not fading away, and that developments in screening and surveillance require the retention of the Panopticon as an analytical ideal type. However, changes in the sites of application have been such as to require some adjustment in the concept.