Panopticon
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 7076669 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Heather Marsh (corresponding author) |
| Year | 2017 |
| Pages | 1-2 |
| Publication date | 2017-09-14 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | OTHER |
| Venue | The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Sociology (JOURNAL) |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1002/9781405165518.wbeosp130 |
| OpenAlex | W4235241744 |
| ISBN | 9781405165518 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 5 |
The panopticon, designed by English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in 1791, is a prison consisting of, among other things, a central tower and an annular building. An observer in the central tower has the ability to see into all the cells inside the annular. Each cell has two windows: One window faces the tower while the opposite window allows light to pass through the prisoner's cell. Backlighting allows an observer in the central tower, to see into the cells and observe the occupants. Since those inside the cells are unable to see into the tower, whose windows are covered, the prisoners can never tell if (and when) they are being observed. Yet, despite these architectural and design elements, the panopticon functioned as more than a house of incarceration. Typically portrayed as a prison to control prisoners, it was designed to serve as a modern solution to social problems. It could function as an asylum to control illness, a workhouse to control workers or even to control a school full of children. Through the mechanisms of control, surveillance, and self‐discipline, the panopticon became a way of deploying state power through various institutions
Civil engineering · Criminology · Jeremy bentham · Observer (physics · Panopticon · Physics · Political science · Politics · Prison · Sociology · Tower · Window (computing · Architecture, Design, and Social History · Computer Science · Engineering · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Law · Technology, Environment, Urban Planning
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |