Are schools panoptic?

Gallagher, M. (2010) Are schools panoptic? Surveillance and Society, 7(3-4), pp. 262-272.

Abstract

Schools are often understood by social researchers as panoptic spaces, where power is exercised through constant surveillance and monitoring. In this paper, I use Foucault’s notorious account of the Panopticon as a point of departure for a detailed empirical investigation of the specificities of surveillance in schools. Drawing on ethnographic data from fieldwork in a primary school, I argue that how surveillance actually operated in this context diverged from the panoptic programme in two crucial ways: surveillance was (i) discontinuous rather than total, and therefore open to resistance and evasion, and (ii) exercised through sound and hearing as much as through vision.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Gallagher, Dr Michael
• Authors: Gallagher, M.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Geographical and Earth Sciences > Geography
• Journal Name: Surveillance and Society
• Publisher: Surveillance Studies Network
• ISSN: 1477-7487
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2010 The Author
• First Published: First published in Surveillance and Society 7(3-4): 262-272
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License