Week 7

This week's readings reminded me very much of the movie "The Lives of Others (Das Leben der Anderen)." The movie explores life in East Berlin under the GDR regime and the secret surveillance (i.e. through tapping into phone lines) over specific individuals who were under suspiscion of not supporting the German "Democratic" Republic. The power was in the hands and eyes of the Stasi (the political police) and the people of East Berlin lived in fear that they were being watched if they knew they had ever acted against, or spoken words that were not supportive of the GDR. Like a panopticon, the people being watched feel powerless.

According to Foucault, the feeling of suspecting, but not knowing one is being watched not only distinguishes power between those watching (who have the power) and those being watched, but also instills fear and works a disciplinary effect on those in the limelight. He uses the example of a Panopticon; a circual prison where cells are visible from a central surveillance station.

Bibliography
Foucault, M 1977, ‘Panopticism’ in Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison, translated by Alan Sheridan, Penguin, London, pp 195-228

Week 6

 This weeks article explores the idea of the internet being both a public sphere and a public space in a political medium. The growing usage of the internet around the world has empowered people with common beliefs and attitudes to find eachother and form online political groups. The net has allowed people to vocalise their beliefs in a way that is easy and accessible (that is, if you have a computer). It is a way that people can actively participate in the political processes of our democratic society.

However, not everybody feels this way. "...skeptics caution that technologies not universally accessible and ones that frequently induce fragmented, nonsensical, and enraged discussion, otherwise known as ‘flaming’, far from guarantee a revived public sphere."  (p10) While it's true that technology and computers aren't universally accessible, it is just one avenue where people can express their political opinions, not the only one. And as for "enraged discussion", that's part of a democracy. If we were to mediate what was "nonsensical" and ensure discussion never had "enraged" participants, Australia wouldn't be considered a democratic country. Also, enraged discussion and nonsensical arguments are not limited to the internet.


Bibliography
Papacharissi, Z., 2002, The virtual sphere: The internet as a public cphere, New Media and Society, Vol 4, no. 1, pp. 9-27.