Panopticism

This was a really interesting lecture about the theory of how power works in society. The architectural structure is a metaphor for hierarchy, such as class, race and gender. Interestingly, later on, a prison was actually built based on this theory.

The theory is based around controlling people without using restraints and prison bars. The design is very interesting – people are put in cells where they can’t see anyone in the other cells. They can’t even see any wardens or guards – all they can see is a watch tower in the centre. Although they don’t know who is watching them, or if they are even being watched, they have to accept that there is the possibility that they are being watched all the time. This impacts them tremendously as it means they start to watch their own actions as they are more conscious of what they are doing. Therefore, it is suggested that no guards are even needed, because as long as the prisoners believe that there is the possibility of being watched, they will behave correctly. This surveillance can be linked to today’s social media, where the public and private line are blurred. Many advertising campaigns now use social media platforms, for example Facebook. Facebook is a strong link to Panopticism because just as the prisoners are on display to the guards, the guards are never seen. Our information is available to Facebook, but Facebook itself is invisible to us. This can be further linked to advertising as many adverts on the internet are targeted. If I was to search for a jacket on the internet, then Facebook would provide me with clothing adverts. The internet has a lot of information on us, but again, we have nothing on the Internet.

I thought the comparison with Ancient Greece was very interesting. The Ancient Greeks lived in a very communal society e.g.  everyone went to the theatre together. This doesn’t really happen in our modern society as everyone lives in separate homes. Therefore, Panopticism works best with modern societies, rather than Ancient Greece, as the theory makes it easier to influence people who isolate themselves.

Another link with advertising is the idea that the building structure makes it possible to observe symptoms of people without beds and clinics. This could be compared to market research in advertising, as people have to research and analyse people’s actions and opinions in order to market a product correctly. The groups that are being targeted don’t receive a lot of information from the researchers, however the researchers learn a lot from the groups.

I think Panopticism does link to my essay as it talks about how the individual is fabricated due to the state having so much power. This links with the individual as identity makes us what we are. However, we are born in power systems/social structure that limits our identities. Our identities have been unknowingly fabricated. As my essay is on homosexual identity in advertising, Panopticism is an interesting theory to discuss, because it can be argued that homosexuals have a limited identity in society which is reflected in advertising.