Contemporary Panopticism

The growth in surveillance has been a component of the growth of contemporary society, however, due to advances in information technology and the rise of greater links in communication there are other forms of surveillance, such as the internet and social media, which complicate methods of social control. The mix of advanced technologies supported by sufficient data management systems used by governmental agencies and corporate groups has provided a more undistinguishable and more powerful means of surveillance. Modes of social control have now developed into systems of control where an individual can be empowered and empower others. Living in a society where every movement whether online or while shopping on the local high street can be monitored and scrutinized leads to an environment where intrusion becomes an integral part of modern life. A life of surveillance is therefore sure to prevail. This paper discusses how contemporary surveillance has elements of the principles of panopticism in its processes. The discourse suggests that contemporary forms of control have some elements of discipline however principles of constant observation with constant scrutiny are highlighted to be a significant aspect of contemporary surveillance processes. Furthermore the paper highlights that contemporary surveillance, where data is power and having knowledge about individuals and groups by governmental agencies and corporations extends this power, collects its information reminiscent of panopticism.

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Chapter CONTEMPORARY SURVEILLANCE AND PRINCIPLES OF PANOPTICISM:
As David Lyon has pointed out, the sociological response to the general issue of surveillance has been dominated by images of the Panopticon (Lyon 1994). This hasbeen especially true of CCTV surveillance which naturally invites comparisons withJeremy Bentham's proposal, written in 1787, for an architectural system of social discipline, applicable to prisons, factories, workhouses and asylums. Bentham' s architectural design "has been one of the most powerful metaphors in locating the theoretical and social significance of CCTV in contemporary society" (Norris 2003: 249). The design of the panopticon illustrates the mechanism of surveillance. It consists of a circular prison building including a central watchtower. It enables a single officer to control a multitude of prisoners. Its impressive clearness makes it an evident model for contemporary trends of surveillance. In form of modern CCTV systems - as for example in shopping malls - the panopticon suppose to celebrate its renaissance: The view of the camera's eye is expected to be felt by the subjects regardless of the operation or even the existence of a CCTV system. It is hardly surprising, then, given the parallels that can be drawn with CCTV, that many theorists have been drawn to both Foucault's concept of the Panopticon and his analysis of its disciplinary potential (see Davis 1990; Fyfe and Banister 1996; Reeve 1998).
As Fyfe and Bannister (1994) note, CCTV, like the Panopticon, facilitates the power of the watchers over the watched not only by enabling swift intervention to displays of non-conformity but also through the promotion of habituated anticipatory conformity. However, just taking the diversity of current forms of CCTV systems into account, it is obvious that the panopticon approach, stressing parallels to the industrial age of the 19thcentury, is highly questionable in regard to current social developments towards a post-industrial society based on mobility and information flows. Lyon considers: "Whatever one may learn from Jeremy Bentham's Panopticon or George Orwell's totalitarian telescreen technology, it is not clear if these are entirely helpful ways of understanding surveillance today." (Lyon 2002: 4). Thus McCahill states that one has to go "beyond Foucault" (McCahill 1999). Given the challenges of globalisation and the new patterns of living in a highly individualised society the panopticon has to be re-examined, combined with other discourses and models. Re-reading Foucault Norris has lately extended the understanding of it. He pointed out that in the end the panopticon is "far more than anarchitectural form of visualization". It implies at its "heart" already "the collection ofindividualized codified information". As the deviant is segregated from society, thepanopticon is "exclusionary" as well as "inclusionary". It provides a "rationale for social classification" (Norris 2003: 251).
A further strand is to interpret the increasing use of CCTV in the context of the contemporary shift towards a risk society (Beck 1986). Thus, a changing perception ofsecurity can be observed all over the world. New sources of insecurities are located in terrorism, drug trade, growing social inequalities, transnational migration or the vulnerability of information and communication infrastructure. In this context CCTV is understood as a response to risks. The multifunctional potential of it makes it a management tool for all kinds of dangers and possible hazards, such as traffic jams, fire, tunnel accidents, crime, terrorists attacks etc. In this respect a shift from reactive to proactive policing can be considered. Moreover, it has been pointed out, that the management of risks is not only addressed to state agencies as the police but increasingly to a mixture of institutions and organisations within the security branch. In combination with neo-liberal political programmes and strategi