Panoptic power derives from invisible omnipresence rather than real presence

Evidence

In Bentham’s panopticon prison, however, the opposite is true: prisoners work dutifully as long as the inspector is not in view; in his presence, they stage, as it were, indiscipline, idleness and disorder. Thus, in the panopticon, the inspector exposes himself to the eyes of the prisoners as little as possible: all of his power over the prisoners derives from his invisibility, or more precisely, his ‘invisible omnipresence’. — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 38

Categorization

• XREF: Core to the reader’s thesis: this is the exact inversion of ordinary prisons that Orwell dramatizes with telescreens in 1984 — Oceania’s inmates must assume constant watch, so power operates through assumed rather than real presence. — connects to: Invisible presence requires real absence to seem omnipresent — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 37; The panopticon’s power rests on a fiction at its core — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 31; Panoptic power rests on central inspection plus unseen watching — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 152 (+19 more)

Related

• Apparent omnipresence of the inspector sustains discipline (similarity 0.90)
• Panoptic power rests on central inspection plus unseen watching (similarity 0.89)
• The power to not-see is constitutive of seeing itself (similarity 0.87)
• Invisible presence requires real absence to seem omnipresent (similarity 0.87)
• Even imperfect invisibility can sustain the illusion of constant surveillance (similarity 0.86)
• Power functions automatically when subjects believe they are always visible (similarity 0.86)
• An opaque dummy object substitutes for the inspector in the lantern undetected (similarity 0.86)
• The panoptic inspector must hide for fear his fictional divinity will be exposed (similarity 0.86)
• Invisible inspection can awe prisoners to silence without any physical restraint (similarity 0.86)
• Constant visibility captures subjects better than darkness and enclosure ever did (similarity 0.85)
• The panopticon’s power rests on a fiction at its core (similarity 0.85)
• The panoptic machine’s power is kept from tyranny by public observability of its observers (similarity 0.84)
• Unlocatable individual addressing makes all prisoners assume they are watched (similarity 0.84)
• Surveillance-based power operates by optics rather than force (similarity 0.83)
• The panopticon governs through prevention rather than detection (similarity 0.83)

Broader Connections

• Panoptic power rests on central inspection plus unseen watching #expands (0.90) — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 152
• Disciplinary power stays invisible while making its subjects compulsorily visible #corroborates (0.88) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 288
• Surveillance-based power operates by optics rather than force #corroborates (0.85) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 273
• Even imperfect invisibility can sustain the illusion of constant surveillance #qualifies (0.82) — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 303
• Panoptic control operates through gaze and voice detached from any bearer #qualifies (0.80) — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 42