Foucault, meg143, 4/15

Today’s class gave me a much better understanding of Foucault’s theory and ideas. Foucault’s interest is surrounded by the idea of the “panopticon” originally a design for a prison where the guards have a view into every cell of the prisoners, much like a big brother world. The class began giving out ideas of what other systems they felt acted like a panopticon, such as empty cop cars, the honor code, airports, and the London cameras. Each of these ideas were very interesting and I have a lot of experience with the London cameras and definitely agree that it is a system much like the panopticon. When I first got to London I could not believe how many cameras there were, they were literally everywhere. On average anyone spending a day in London is photographed or caught on video over 200 times. I never thought I could get used to this, cameras on every street corner, on every bus, in every elevator, and on almost every building. However, the strange thing was that I did get used to it, after a while you start to notice them less but you never forget that they are there, much like a panoptican effect, even if you aren’t sure if someone is watching you, you assume that they are. A couple weeks into my time in London my roommate and I were out to lunch and someone stole her purse off the back of her chair, we both panicked and weren’t sure what to do, until we realized that there had to have been a camera nearby that recorded the incident. We informed the restaurant and were disappointed to see that it seemed where we were sitting was out of reach of both cameras near by. We also called the police about the incident and we were basically told that there was not a lot that they could do. This was so disheartening, with all of these cameras, how was crime not reduced or easier to prevent? After this I felt that the cameras were only there to make people think they were always being watched. This was until I was in my flat one day, when I decided to open the balcony door, which we weren’t supposed to do but it was very hot in the flat and I was on the 5^th floor and didn’t think anyone would mind or notice. Literally within 10 minutes I got a phone call from our supervisor in our building asking me to please close the door because it was dangerous. I couldn’t believe it, there were even cameras that could see our flat and I’m sure inside as well. This was very creepy and gave me a different view of the London cameras, and I began to feel like I was constantly being watched again. I think that this camera system is a very good example of the idea of the panopticon of our world. Foucault says, “This induces the inmate a state of consciousness and permanent visibility that assures the automatic functioning of power” (98). Where the inmates in prison behave because they are always being watched, and the citizens of London may adjust their actions according to the cameras, and how our entire society is under the eye of this Hegemonic and Repressive State Apparatus.