Are Prisons Obsolete? (Open Media Series)

by Angela Y. Davis

Between 1787 and 1791, the utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham published his letters on a prison model he called the panopticon.45 Bentham claimed that criminals could only internalize productive labor habits if they were under constant surveillance. According to his panopticon model, prisoners were to be housed in single cells on circular tiers, all facing a multilevel guard tower. By means of blinds and a complicated play of light and darkness, the prisoners—who would not see each other at all—would be unable to see the warden. From his vantage point, on the other hand, the warden would be able to see all of the prisoners. However—and this was the most significant aspect of Bentham’s mammoth panopticon—because each individual prisoner would never be able to determine where the warden’s gaze was focused, each prisoner would be compelled to act, that is, work, as if he were being watched at all times.