Bentham and Foucault's Panopticon - Case Study Example

The Panopticon Introduction The Panopticon is recognized as a unique building that was designed in the late century by the social theorist Jeremy Bentham. The name of the building immediately reflects on the function of the building, which was to allow maximum surveillance without the knowledge of the prisoners. The design of the building was conducted as a surveillance machine, where the inmates could not be able to tell whether they are being watched or not1. The popularity of the panopticon has since highly increased in the architectural scene based on the fact that it incorporates architecture with spatial power. This has not been the case for most buildings set up in the eighteenth century because they were mainly built for inhabitance. However, the panopticon is a prison that focuses on the aspect of surveillance in relation to power2. This is evident by the fact that the surveillance is conducted in a manner that the inmates do not relate to. The prisoners are aware of the surveillance taking place but they cannot be able to see the people watching them. This affects the mental capacity of the prisoners as they do not have any control over the situation and the power is placed in the hands of the surveillance team. The knowledge that the prisoners have of being watched does not go as far as to let them know when it is being conducted3. This leaves them with a feeling of paranoia of being watched all the time because the surveillance can be conducted even when the prisoners are in their cells. The original concept that Jeremy Bentham had was to make sure that certain costs that are needed in the constant surveillance process and this would also enable the inmates to maintain proper conduct. Bentham understood that if the prisoners knew they were constantly being watched would help the reform process and the government in general. Power is understood based on different concepts that mainly revolve as having power to control others and the environment surrounding them. However, the incorporation of power in architecture brings out a unique interaction between power and architecture4. Buildings are given designs that best suit their purposes and can be able to serve the inhabitants accordingly. Michel Foucault represents his critical review on the aspect of the Panopticon and his interpretation of power5. Foucault is highly recognized as a social theorist who believed in the concept of the freedom of the people. The understanding of the effect of power is mainly achieved through the understanding of people and how they respond to different factors. Therefore, Dovey incorporates his understanding of human relations and the knowledge that he has on the archeological systems to create different interpretations of the Panopticon6. The effect of power is mainly in the archeological structure rather than the people trying to influence their authority. However, the main emphasis is based on the fact that knowledge is power. In this case the Panopticon is built to harbor the prisoners until they reform and they lack the knowledge that dictates the power in the archeological structure. The information of the surveillance system of the building is privileged to the individuals keeping an eye on the prisoners and the people running the building as well. The prisoners on the other hand the prisoners do not have the information regarding the manner in which they are being watched. This provides the controllers of the prison with the power to control the movements and actions of the prisoners7. The only information that the prisoners have is the fact that they are being watched but they have no idea of how it is being conducted and this limits their freedom of mind. Dovey Kim is recognized as an Australian architectural critic, who refers to the Panopticon is a power structure since the custodians have the power to look at every movement of the prisoners while the prisoners cannot be able to see the custodians8. The power of the panopticon is based on the mental capacity of the individuals involved. Foucault has focused his theories of the Panopticon prison on the concept of discipline and punish. He has been able to interpret his theories through a book, Discipline and punish: The birth of prison. In his book he intently looks at the archeological structure of the prison and how it can be interpreted in the modern day society9. The manner in which the prison was constructed was supposed to give unwavering advantage to the custodians which would reflect on the power that they have over the prisoners. Dovey focuses on the applicability and usefulness of the panopticon is translated by its transposition from the institutional sites of confinement and discipline to the area of public space. The archaeological structure is a prison which according to Dovey was meant for criminal punishment, which became an important part of the carceral system. Prisons are able to build disciplinary careers for the individuals who are confined within the corridors. Different structures such as the military schools, hospitals and other related institutions serve the same purpose of instilling discipline to the individuals but as much as the Panopticon was meant to instill discipline as well as punishment10. This has been achieved on various occasions but the inclusion of surveillance that the prisoners were not aware of, would increase the effect of the power that the custodians have. Panoptic power means that human behavior can easily be controlled through information and knowledge. The prisoners are not necessarily threatened by the custodians but by the structure of the building. The structure of the prison poses a mystery for the prisoners as they cannot be able to conduct actions as they please as they are aware that they are being watched. Their mental state is not at ease and it might be considered as torture by some critics but the main intention is to make sure the discipline instilled in the institution is observed at all times. Hence, the architectural idea that Bentham was based on the creation of a structure that could be able to demand power without necessarily individualizing the power11. The power resides in the architectural structure rather than the people controlling it and this is the knowledge that the custodians of the panopticon used to control the prisoners. Critically the author looks at the essence of architecture and different urban designs to look at the aspects of punish and discipline. Power is not considered to be effective unless it is put into action where it can be applied through the architectural structure or through different individuals. Power can also be used to serve different purpose and in the case of the Panopticon prison it is applied through a structure to serve the role of rendering punishment. Bentham looked at the history of prisons and how they were conducted through placing the prisoners in dungeons and through torture as well12. This had been conducted for centuries where allocation of power to individuals determined the discipline that the prisoners would have acquired by the end of their sentence. Therefore, instead of the application of the violent methods, Bentham used the allocation of power to the architectural structure so as to achieve the same results. Hence, the configuration of the Panopticon held different meaning in the power distribution and the manner in which it would be interpreted by the prisoners. Dovey explains that the circular form indicated that the prisoners would be located at the building’s periphery where the watch guard tower would be able to keep an eye on all the inmates13. This in itself shows that the structure dictates the location of the prisoners and the manner in which they would be monitored. The inmates have no control over this factor and they are aware that they have to adhere to the way the prison is structured which in itself indicates discipline. The prison also has large windows, which are strategically located on the outer walls of the cells of the convicts and the dark locations that mainly surrounded the inner tower14. This ensured that constant illumination of the light would be maintained in the cells and dark areas. Again this is a classic example of how the light illuminating the room cannot be controlled by the inmates but they are rather forced to adjust to the conditions of the prison. The other unique factor is that the prison guards remained completely concealed from the prisons. This generated an uneasy feeling among the prisons that they were constantly being watched by the guards despite being in their cells and it prevented them from conducting actions that are against the law15. there is concerted effort by the author to draw in from various and broad range of social theories and deploys the three primary analyses in reference to built form which includes analysis of spatial structure; interpretation of lived experience and interpretation of constructed meanings. The factor of discipline is maintained through the power that the Panopticon prison had despite the presence of individuals who could be able to exercise a similar amount of power. Therefore, Bentham applied this theory to bring sanity among the prisoners and maintain the discipline required while at the same time saving on different costs that would have been applied on the resources. The work of the guards was also greatly reduced as there is no interaction with the prisoners or communication16. It also made their work less risky as they were located in areas that the prisoners were not aware of. Thus, the constant observation was the control mechanism applied by the architectural structure the Panopticon prison. Foucault on the other hand looked at the Panopticon as a metaphor that could be used to link different relationships based on how the social control system works especially among people within a disciplinary situation and concept of the power knowledge. The information that Kim Dovey was trying to relay to the people through his book is that the only way that power and knowledge can be understood, is through the observation of others. Observing others would be able to tell an individual their behavioral traits and from this information one can be able to figure out how to control them. The more one spends time observing another individual, the more powerful he becomes. The power that one gains is generated from the observation they have conducted on another individual and the amount of information that they have been able to collect17. Hence, Dovey claims that the manner in which power and knowledge reinforce each other is a circular process and this mainly occurs when the two factors are combined and generalized. The fact that different individuals can be repressed by the form of the social order does not form any real danger but this is experienced when the individuals are carefully fabricated in the social order. Power is made more powerful through the observation process and using the information collected as knowledge to further enrich the power. The visibility of the prisoners in the Panopticon prison made them a subject of observation, which in turn enriched the knowledge of the prison guards who were not visible to the prisoners. The information gathered during the observation routine by the guards made them quite powerful. The fact that the prisoners were always aware that they were being watched by the guards although they could not see them made them adhere to most of the rules set in place18. The mental state of the prisoners is controlled by the knowledge that they have of being o served and this controls heir social environment as well. Their manner of interaction is based on what is allowed in the prison as they are aware of the fact hat they are being observed19. The human behavior is the information that the prison guards are collecting through the observation process. They are aware of the factors that they should be looking out for and once they recognize them, they use it as knowledge. The other element that I decipher from the work of the author is based on his application of different theories so as to bring out the connection between power and knowledge. The human understanding of power is based on authority and its application process to the people. However, the understanding that people do not have is the understanding on how power is acquired and its application process. Hence, incorporating the knowledge that people have into the application of knowledge to acquire power. When one is empowered their capacity to act changes enormously and their level of imagination is highly increased. According to the architectural scene, power is the ability that one has to come up with built environment through imagination, construction and inhabiting which is better from the contemporaries and he referred to as empowerment. The prisoners felt oppressed as they could not be able to understand the center of the power and they had to resort to the set standards so that they can avoid trouble20. The construction of the Panopticon prison was considered an insight of the future developments and how architectural aspects could be considered as power centralization. The design and construction of buildings has been conducted for centuries for the main purpose of serving the needs of people in form of living and any together utilization. However, the aspect of power in architecture is being slowly applied into this discipline. The construction of the Panopticon prison was considered to be influenced by the aspect of modernity considering that it was conducted during the industrial revolution. Architectural coercion as a consequent of power can give off the phenomena of authority, where it is marked by the absence of criticisms or counter arguments but the subject must rely on compliance and unquestioned recognition21. The construction of the Panopticon was considered to create an asymmetrical reflection of power and the same is evident within the modern scene. After the construction of the prison and the realization of the benefits and the power that the prison had, there were other prisons constructed that borrowed a similar concept22. Although the prisons achieved the same concept they were not fully considered as Panopticon prisons to Bentham’s designs. Power and empowerment can also be described as the capacity to appropriate room or even chooses residence and walk to the beach while criticizing the limitations and inadequacies of urban designs. In my own view, what Dovey meant is that when someone is empowered or possesses power his or her capacity to act is enormously increased and can even have an accentuated sense of imagination. The general element of power can either be positive or negative depending on the context and how it is exercised for a specific objective. It is doubled edged in the sense that it can liberate and at the same time it can be used an instrument of oppression. The author zeroed in on the positive dimension of power and ascribes it as the primary notion on the human capacity to utilize his or her imaginative skills to bore ideas and create a better built environment. There are various forms of power illustrated on various distinctions between effects of power which includes authority, seduction, manipulation, force and coercion. Force is the overt exercise of power to create a phenomenon whereby the subjects are stripped off their element of non-compliance. (Dovey & Dickson, 2002) In reference to the architectural perspective the aspect of force is manifested from the typical examples in built form, which includes various kinds of developed spatial confinement, such as, institutions of incarceration and prisons. Spatial exclusion in built forms is also another manifest and it is best illustrated in the housing enclave, bars, the medieval fortresses and walls. Coercion is also another form of power, which Dovey Kim describes it as the threat of force that players in art and architecture often use so as to secure compliance from the enthusiasts and the subjects. The application of technology to monitor the movements and actions of people has benefits and negative aspects as well. This is attributed to the fact that the people being monitored are not necessarily prisoners yet they are under observation. Foucault’s model constantly reflects on the constant visibility of the individual, the visual surveillance systems introduced by the modern technology does not coincide with this factor as it does not support continuous monitoring of the public space23. The process of observation becomes highly difficult since one is forced to monitor many people at the same time and the individuals being observed cannot be kept under constant monitoring as they do not reside in the specific setting. Therefore, everyday different information is collected from the people and the classification process is also difficult based on the open setting and public space24. The effectiveness of the panopticon is not highly realized in the modern surveillance techniques applied in different architectural structures. Moreover, other types of built forms that is very common in our modern society such as shopping malls, banks and other related structures have become highly dependent of the surveillance technology that is incorporated in the archeological structure. These factors are some of the features that have led to the completion of a link where the mediation of power is incorporated within the auspices of architecture25. Individuals under observation need to be aware of who is conducting the observation so that they can be aware of the centralization of the power. This could be made possible if the individuals reside in the architectural buildings and are informed of the how the system works. However, the application of the observation systems according to the author does not serve the same purpose especially when applied in public space. The introduction of different privacy regulations also limit the observation factor that is applied in the panopticon discipline. This creates a problem as individuals are not ready to be under constant observation and it becomes difficult to acquire the power26. This does not necessarily mean that the social theory concept does not apply as one can be able to use the observation concept to acquire information that will help rejuvenate the power. Observation of the human behavior can be conducted with the means of the advanced surveillance and the information collected can be used to classify individuals, increase the knowledge attained and the power aspect as well. In general, the book is a master piece as it covers the various disciplines that can be commemorated into the architectural world to bring out beneficial aspects about power. The application of power in architecture according to the panopticon view of Bentham’s design is reflected effectively by the author in relation to different architectural theories. In general the concept of power can be considered to be negative or positive and it will mainly depend on how it is being executed. This can be explained by the fact that power can have a liberating effect and the same time it can instill oppression among different people. As mentioned earlier, power is built through the knowledge acquired during the observation process. However, it can be very oppressing knowing that one is being watched yet they are not aware of who is watching them as exercised in the Panopticon prison. Kim Dovey has focused has used different social theories and incorporated them with the archeological theory so as to explain the aspect of power in the Panopticon prison. Bibliography Bentham, Jeremy. The Panopticon Writings, London: Verso, 1995. Bozovic, Mladen. ‘Introduction: An Utterly Dark Spot.’ J. Bentham, The Panopticon Writings. London, Verso: 1-27, 1995. Foucault, Michel. Discipline and Punish. France: Gallimard Publishers, 1977. Print Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilisation: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. UK: Vintage,1989. Miller, Jacqueas-Alain. ‘Jeremy Bentham"s Panoptic Device. UK: Verso,1987 Read More