panopticons
All-seeing jail designs
Panopticons are prison designs where a central watchtower can observe all cells without inmates knowing when they're being watched.
The concept, proposed by philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century, has become a metaphor for surveillance states and systems of social control: Social media has created a digital panopticon where everyone monitors everyone else.
Ongoing observation of something
- CCTVSurveillance camera network
- camerasVisual recording devices
- trackingMonitoring location over time
- observationAttentive watching or remark
watching · oversight · scrutiny · inspection · visibility · exposure · transparency · detection
Forming a closed curve
- watchtowerElevated structure for surveillance
- centralIn the middle, primary
- cellsBasic biological units
- radialEmanating from center
prison · galleries · tiers · inspection · wings · rotunda · dome · corridors
Trained self-control or specialty
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
- powerEnergy transfer rate
- gazeFixed, intent look
- normalizationAdjusting to a standard
docile · bodies · control · visibility · self-regulation · discourse · institutions · modernity
Detention facilities for criminals
- penitentiariesInstitutions housing convicted criminals
- incarcerationConfinement in jail
- BenthamUtilitarian ethics founder
- inmatesIncarcerated individuals
guards · confinement · reform · punishment · correctional · detention · cells · wardens
Perceiving everything at once
- omniscientUnlimited in awareness
- totalitarianDictatorial, all-controlling regime
- dystopiaImaginary terrible society
- 1984Dystopian surveillance state tale
authoritarian · oppression · conformity · obedience · fear · paranoia · watchfulness · scrutiny
monitoring
Ongoing observation of something
observation · watching · oversight · scrutiny · inspection · visibility · exposure · transparency · detection · recording
circular
Forming a closed curve
- watchtowerElevated structure for surveillance
- centralIn the middle, primary
- cellsBasic biological units
radial · prison · galleries · tiers · inspection · wings · rotunda · dome · corridors · hub
discipline
Trained self-control or specialty
- surveillanceSystematic observation of subjects
- powerEnergy transfer rate
- gazeFixed, intent look
normalization · docile · bodies · control · visibility · self-regulation · discourse · institutions · modernity · internalization
prisons
Detention facilities for criminals
- penitentiariesInstitutions housing convicted criminals
- incarcerationConfinement in jail
- BenthamUtilitarian ethics founder
inmates · guards · confinement · reform · punishment · correctional · detention · cells · wardens · isolation
all-seeing
Perceiving everything at once
- omniscientUnlimited in awareness
- totalitarianDictatorial, all-controlling regime
- dystopiaImaginary terrible society
1984 · authoritarian · oppression · conformity · obedience · fear · paranoia · watchfulness · scrutiny · judgment
panopticonsoubliettes
Underground cells entered from above
dungeons · blind spots · labyrinths · safe houses · catacombs
panopticonssanctuaries
Protected places of refuge
refuges · asylums · communes · havens · safe houses
panopticonsmazes
Complex path networks
secret passages · enclosed spaces · priest holes · speakeasies