PANOPTICOM

The panopticon is a type of prison with a particular system of control built-in, proposed by the English philosopher Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. Bentham's Panopticon consists of a watch tower at its center and a round system of individual cells circling the tower, so that the prisoners cannot communicate to each other nor can they know if they are being watched. In this system only one guard can supervise many- or all the prisoners, and in fact even no guard, since the prisoners act on their own as if they are being watched.

Later on, in the 20th century, the French Michel Foucault, elaborating on this concept, came up with Panopticism, as part of his theory of how power works. In "Discipline and Punish" Foucault describes how, even in the so called "open" society, the simple fact of feeling watched disciplines individuals to act "on their own" within the interest of established power.

And now Peter Gabriel is resurrecting that old nightmare for our paranoid pleasure. What can I say? The man has something to say, and is singing about it with honesty, clarity, and a strong voice that doesn't reflect his age, sounding pretty much intact over the years. The overall sound seems really akin to So (1986). Are you disappointed of being carried back such a long ago? I'm not, to be honest, since, in a time when nobody knows for sure what's exactly the "sound of times" like, every move seems possible, even acceptable. And to my ears, Peter just came up with a nice one here.