Surveillance-based power operates by optics rather than force

Evidence

Thanks to the techniques of surveillance, the ‘physics’ of power, the hold over the body, operate according to the laws of optics and mechanics, according to a whole play of spaces, lines, screens, beams, degrees and without recourse, in principle at least, to excess, force or violence. It is a power that seems all the less ‘corporal’ in that it is more subtly ‘physical’. — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 273

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Panoptic power derives from invisible omnipresence rather than real presence — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 38; Panoptic power rests on central inspection plus unseen watching — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 152; Unpredictable surveillance produces self-surveillance and disempowerment in its targets — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 482 (+10 more)

Related

• Power functions automatically when subjects believe they are always visible (similarity 0.87)
• Panoptic power rests on central inspection plus unseen watching (similarity 0.85)
• Effective surveillance is visible yet permanently unverifiable (similarity 0.84)
• The panoptic machine’s power is kept from tyranny by public observability of its observers (similarity 0.84)
• Surveillance architecture requires perceptual asymmetry between observer and observed (similarity 0.83)
• Panoptic power derives from invisible omnipresence rather than real presence (similarity 0.83)
• Visible surveillance makes subjects police themselves without any force (similarity 0.82)
• Disciplinary power stays invisible while making its subjects compulsorily visible (similarity 0.82)
• Power grows stronger the less visible it is (similarity 0.81)
• Uncertainty about being watched suffices to make surveillance effective (similarity 0.81)
• Visibility and invisibility must be balanced for surveillance to function (similarity 0.81)
• Panoptic control operates through gaze and voice detached from any bearer (similarity 0.80)
• Even imperfect invisibility can sustain the illusion of constant surveillance (similarity 0.80)
• Knowing one is visible makes the subject self-police by internalizing power’s constraints (similarity 0.79)
• The digital panopticon fails to register as surveillance because its subjects feel free (similarity 0.79)

Broader Connections

• Visible surveillance makes subjects police themselves without any force #exemplifies (0.95) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 315
• Power functions automatically when subjects believe they are always visible #expands (0.90) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 313
• Unpredictable surveillance produces self-surveillance and disempowerment in its targets #expands (0.85) — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 482
• Effective surveillance is visible yet permanently unverifiable #expands (0.80) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 313
• Surveillance architecture requires perceptual asymmetry between observer and observed #expands (0.80) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 526
• The panoptic machine’s power is kept from tyranny by public observability of its observers #qualifies (0.75) — Michel Foucault, Discipline & Punish- The Birth of the…, 322
• Surveillance is administrative power, mostly indirect via information control #complicates (0.75) — Anthony Giddens, The Consequences of Modernity, 154
• Power operates through indirect communication, not direct action #exemplifies (0.70) — Niklas Luhmann, Trust and Power, 604