Car Parks
Panopticism derives from the Panopticon, or panoptic model, designed by scholar and theorist Jeremy Bentham, a system of incarceration where cells would be aligned along a circular structure with the cell entrances facing inwards towards a central guard tower, the reason being that those held in the prison would be under constant surveillance, or more importantly, feel like they were. This feeling of constant scrutiny meant inmates never transgressed the laws of their imprisonment, to such an extent that there became no need for guards in the guard tower. They were, in effect, monitoring themselves.
Michel Foucault took this physical model and applied as a theory to society in general, both current and past, to define the relationships of power that exist between those in charge and the common man. Foucault commented that panopticism is used to control and regulate the masses, but more specifically, just like the inmates in the original Panopticon jail, to cause them to ‘self-regulate’. The people follow the law for fear of being caught, a feeling installed in them through constant, invisible surveillance, even if, like the guards, its not only invisible, but also non-existent. These people then become what Foucault calls ‘docile bodies’, meaning they are malleable, moveable, easy to affect and are, in essence, subject to the whim of those in control of this relationship of power.
There are many examples of panopticism in modern society. Car parks are one prime example.
In a modern car park there are a number of methods put in place that enforce ‘the law’, the ‘rule of the car park’ as it were. Such methods are 1) the parking ticket, 2) the attendant, 3) warning signs, 4) barriers. Using Panoptocism, and the text 'Panopticism' by Michel Foucault in J. Thomas’ 'Reading Images' (2000), these can be analysed as methods of exerting control and self regulation.
The introduction of paying for car parking spaces in the first place raises the question of why, for what reason? It could be a number of things – certain persons abuse of car parking privileges in areas where there is high demand for them, or because of this increasing demand. In ‘Panopticism’ (Thomas, J (2000) ‘Reading Images’), Foucault describes when, during the great plague of the late seventeenth century, the general public were forced into a state of quarantine. He says that ‘the plague (was) met by order, its function is to sort out every possible confusion’ (p78), and names this as a ‘disciplinary project’ (p78).
He continues ‘it called for multiple separations, an organization in depth of surveillance and control, an intensification and a ramification of power’ (p78). In effect, the plague was a useful excuse for those in power to exercise their authority over others, to ‘bring…the political dream…of a disciplined society’ (p79).
The ‘reason’ of an ever increasing demand for car parking spaces was simply a convenient excuse, like the great plague, to control and monitor those who wish to use it, by means of what is effectively a tax, and monitored time limits.
This is enforced by means of the other 3 methods of attendants, signage and barriers. The signage warns of the consequences of not paying, of attendants who will come and punish, the cost of which, monetary or otherwise, being greater than that of the toll, the barrier becoming a symbol of possible imprisonment. The parker of a car instantly feels under pressure to purchase a ticket, ‘just in case’, and consequentially as the time approaches for the ticket to expire they become worried, anxious and rush back to either remove their car or buy another ticket. This is panopticism in full swing. There may or may not, in fact be an attendant in the car park, but the illusion that the car is under constant surveillance causes the driver to self-regulate themselves, to pay anyway. As Foucault put it ‘he inscribes in himself the power relation in which he simultaneously plays both roles; he becomes the principle of his own subjection’ (p83). One becomes one’s own tormentor.
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