The Electronic Panopticon : Organizational Surveillance in Virtual Work

Theoretical Framework

Bentham and Foucault’s concept of the panopticon provides a useful framework to ground the discussion of surveillance in the workplace. The panopticon is a prison building developed by Jeremy Bentham, an English philosopher and social theorist in 1785. Bentham (1791) developed the panopticon as an apparent omnipresence for prisoners where the hope was that if prisoners were under constant surveillance, they would behave more appropriately. In Bentham’s prison, a guard tower equipped with venetian blinds was to stand in the center of the windowed cells armed with a guard for surveillance. This constant source of surveillance was hypothesized to produce better behavior from prisoners. Bentham’s ultimate goal was for the guard tower to become a reminder of surveillance so prisoners would begin to practice self surveillance. The threat of the guard would eventually be enough by itself, removing the need for an actual physical presence in the tower. The prisoners’ belief that there was a guard would produce the desired results. Once this process is engrained, the prisoners’ practice of self policing will render a better behaved, productive prison environment.