Final answer:
The Panopticon is a design for an institutional building that enables a watchman to observe all inmates without them knowing whether they are being watched. Devised by Jeremy Bentham, it has become a symbol of modern surveillance practices in society, especially in the digital age with technologies like security cameras, phone tracking, and facial recognition.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Panopticon Design of Prison The Panopticon is a type of institutional building designed to allow a single watchman to observe all inmates of an institution without them being able to tell whether or not they are being watched. Conceived by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the late 18th century, the design is circular with cells arranged around the perimeter of the circle and a central observation tower. The key idea is that the Panopticon creates a sense of omnipresent surveillance, which serves as a powerful deterrent for misbehavior and a mechanism of control Bentham's concept was not just limited to prison architecture but was emblematic of a broader mechanism of control within society. The term has been widely used in analyses of surveillance and power, most notably by French philosopher Michel Foucault, who explored the ways in which society enforces norms and regulates behavior through disciplinary mechanisms. The idea of the Panopticon has taken on new significance in the digital age, where technology facilitates a level of omnipresent surveillance that Bentham could scarcely have imagined. Digital security cameras, phone tracking, and facial recognition software have become the modern iteration of the Panopticon's surveillance capabilities, extending far beyond the confines of any single institution.