A panoptic society?

The Panopticon was a design concept that was developed by Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) at around 1787.

This mode of architectural construction could have taken a variety of shapes and forms but would essentially consist of a central circular structure beaming bright light on the prison cells, mental health wards and so on. The idea behind the panoptēs was that everyone would be easily visible. On the other hand, people residing in these units would not have a visual of the guard or observer, making those situated in the annexes to feel watched and incessantly inspected.

So in a way there is this innate feeling that you can never transgress because you are or might be watched. It makes the individuals feel as if they are in a constant state of surveillance. This invisible discipline makes you feel you have to subscribe to a higher law. In a way this configuration normalises this act of domination. Michel Foucault (1926–1984), a renowned French historian and philosopher, goes on to expand this concept in his work disputing this nameless power.

It might be legitimate to have this infrastructural model to guard or act as a sentry in places requiring this supervision, for example in a prison, or some other secure facility. However, one can draw from this concept and ask whether our society has slotted all of its citizens into this ‘penitentiary’ with the intention of creating a docile, unassuming and a biddable community, and at the same time remaining closely monitored. There seems to be this hidden force that ensures you subscribe to this model or else you risk being chastised.

I am bringing forward this squabble because the level of democracy in a society is not only measured by a vote once every four or five years or by the occasional election at your place of work, local council or organisation you are a member of.

Democracy is quantified by the strength of voice that every citizen has (or should have), the opportunity to feel safe and serene and to be able to express oneself with freedom. In other words, that intrinsic belief within society that you are there to be respected for who you are without the constant need to have to shield your privacy. But instead, society is constructing a State of constant lookout, which is watching closely every step we make and every word we say.

We seem to have to watch our back continually because we feel that we are no longer safe and reassured. In other words, that creepy feeling that you are being checked on.

Now I am not only referring to the fact that as soon as you wake up your mobile will tell you how long it will take you to arrive at your place of work and where your car is parked and what weather you are to expect and whether you need to wear a raincoat or not – without ‘you’ ever asking for that information!

I am not only referring to the CCTV cameras installed on your neighbour’s house that capture everything you do; from shooing away the neighbour’s cat to having all your xirja exposed, to being caught scanning the finelooking fellow citizen as s/he strolls down the street or the fact that your dog has peed against the corner of an abandoned house down the road.

I am not only talking about the fact that the Bank will remind you of every transaction you are doing or that your mobile service provider will indicate that it knows you have travelled or that your Google account will condition your search engine because you have been on the lookout for a new pair of shoes.

I am also talking about a culture and a system, seemingly endorsed by the State that is constantly slogging us. This feeling we used to experience some years back, of the Leli ta’ Ħaż-Żgħir type, that makes you feel you are being observed by the fellow citizen next door has truly morphed into the equivalent of an ankle monitor used to ensure that people on house arrest do not wander off.

The consequence of this panoptic situation is that it has left all without any option but to subscribe to a social state of affairs that is close to asphyxiating. Some might interpret this situation as being one of genuine interest, of a service that is being offered or of ensuring that you are condoned to the right products.

I think the circumstances are way different.

What I believe is happening today is that power that comes with control has become increasingly subtle and yet more governing. We do not contest that we are being watched by our ‘friends’ on Facebook, by people who have a myriad number of ways on how to control us. We are developing communities that watch over each other, that are more interested in tailing than anything else. We are no longer free. We are in this era of digital surveillance and data capture that has violated all limits.

We are under continuous reconnaissance victims of technology and of a State that comes in the vest of protecting us but what it is really doing is taking over one of our fundamental liberties, that of privacy.

We have this hidden arm of the State unremittingly hanging over our head.

Who knows, maybe the lack of critical thinking that we are detecting in children and young people is the result of this feeling they get of being constantly shadowed, a sensation of entrapment that what choices ‘they make’ will be revealed to others in ways they choose not – so the alternative is to be cagey, guarded and reticent .

“Power that comes with control has become increasingly subtle and yet more governing