Democracy is watching you: from panopticism to the Security State

Authors

  • Hélder Rocha Prior University of Brasília; Online Communication Lab (LabCom); Observatorio Iberoamericano de la Comunicación (Autonomous University of Barcelona).

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-3729.2015.1.17789

Keywords:

Surveillance Society, Panopticon, BioPower

Abstract

The essay that the reader is holding in his hands is an attempt to understand the extent to which, in the present-day, we are watching the return of a visibility, exposure and surveillance system that a utilitarian author like Jeremy Bentham baptized of Panopticon, or “place where everything is seen”. In fact, the pinnacle of the “information society”, and the present scenario of widespread surveillance intensified by the establishment of Security State post- September 11th, has implications in the practices of control over individuals on a daily basis, what Deleuze calls “societies of control” at the same time it contributes to the frontiers dilution between the public sphere and the private sphere. In this sense, we consider it is important to do a review on “disciplinary societies” surveillance and the control of “biopower” theorized by Michel Foucault to subsequently realize how new surveillance technologies increase, exponentially, the subjects’ transparency.

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Author Biography

Hélder Rocha Prior, University of Brasília; Online Communication Lab (LabCom); Observatorio Iberoamericano de la Comunicación (Autonomous University of Barcelona).

Licenciate Degree (2007) and European Ph.D, "European Doctor" (2013) in Communication Sciences from the University of Beira Interior (Portugal). Posdoctoral researcher at University of Brasília (PNPD-CAPES). Integrated Ph.D - Online Communication Lab (LabCom) of University of Beira Interior; Research collaborator of the Observatorio Iberoamericano de la Comunicación of the Autonomous University of Barcelona; Executive Member of the Board of directors of Asociación Latinoamericana de Investigadores en Campañas Electorales; Member of the editorial board of the journals: "Comunicando" (Portuguese Association of Communication Sciences), "Communication Studies" (LabCom), "Rhêtoriké" (LabCom), Más Poder Local (Fundación Ortega Marañón - Madrid).

 

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Published

2015-05-25

How to Cite

Prior, H. R. (2015). Democracy is watching you: from panopticism to the Security State. Revista FAMECOS, 22(1), 32–58. https://doi.org/10.15448/1980-3729.2015.1.17789

Issue

Vol. 22 No. 1 (2015)

Section

Communication Theories

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