The Panopticon

Foucauldian concept of surveillance creating self-discipline. Bentham's panopticon prison design: central tower observes all cells, but prisoners can't see observer. Uncertainty of being watched induces self-surveillance. Power becomes internalized and automatic. Modern society is disciplinary—schools, hospitals, factories operate panoptically. Surveillance normalizes behavior without direct coercion. Digital age extends panopticon through data collection. We become our own guards. Resistance involves making power visible and refusing self-surveillance.