In 19 75, the french philosopher michel foucot publishes a book called serveer e puner, or discipline and punish in english. In this work, foucot uses bentham's penopticon to explain the disciplinary gaze of power. For him, the ponoptican was an institutional building that would have helped reform prisoners more cheaply than ever. Each individual in his place, is securely confined to a cell from which he is seen from the front by the supervisor but the side walls prevent him from coming into contact with his companions. He is seen, but he does not see. The penopticon presents a cruel, ingenious cage.
Our new miniseries on Surveillance begins with your host tripping over the corpse of Jeremy Bentham, the man who gave us the Panopticon.