Nina Rausch
21. Dezember 2020
Valschermkade 19
1059 CD Amsterdam
+49 1578 4406980
n.j.a.m.rausch@student.vu.nl
The modern Panopticon
HOW THE PANOPTICAL PRINIPLE INFLUENCE
MODERN SURVEILLANCE STRUCUTURES AND
RESULTING ISSUES
Organization Theory - IBA
Dr. Kathleen Stephenson
Dr. Luc Glasbeek
Table of Contents
1. Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 2
2. The Panoptical Principle by Jeremy Bentham ........................................................................................... 2
3. The modern Panopticon at Amazon ........................................................................................................... 3
4. Problems of the Panopticon at Amazon ..................................................................................................... 4
5. Solutions ..................................................................................................................................................... 5
6. Conclusion.................................................................................................................................................. 6
7. References .................................................................................................................................................. 7
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1. Introduction
“We are not robots!” A sentence that was visible on countless protest signs and headed a dozen newspaper
articles in the past two years. Sources of the protest are the precarious working conditions at and around the
warehouses of the online mail-and-order company Amazon. Employees describe a working environment of
total surveillance and overly high pressure to perform that causes an increased number of injuries as well as
mental health problems (Sainato, 2020).
During the past decades, technological progress made the surveillance of workers much easier and therefore
highly increased within the economy. The way many companies structure the working environment shows a
strong resemblance to the ideas Jeremy Bentham describes in his writings about the Panoptical Principle in
1791.
The following essay deals with the impact of Bentham’s Panopticon in modern times and describes the resulting issues. To do so the essay first presents the general information about Bentham’s Principles. Then it analyses the presents of the Principle in the current economy at the example of Amazon. Following, the problems
resulting from the application of the principle at Amazon will be discussed. In the end, there will be a presentation of possible solutions.
The main argument of this essay is that Bentham’s Panoptical Principle is not compatible with modern times.
Technological progress made surveillance too invasive and puts too much pressure on the workers which
causes a violation of human rights.
2. The Panoptical Principle by Jeremy Bentham
Jeremy Bentham invented the Principle of the Panopticon in 1791. Originally the Panopticon was supposed
to help with the surveillance of prisoners. Bentham realized that the construction was also appropriate for the
surveillance of factory workers (Jackson et al., 2006, p. 221). Bentham’s Panopticon is an architectural principle. It is a round building with a central observation tower. Supervisors can monitor every cell from the
tower while inmates of the cells have no insight into the tower. Therefore, they do not know if or when the
supervisors are patrolling. The constant sense of the workers that unseen eyes might be watching helps supervisors to maintain control without actually being omnipresent. This leads to higher productivity of the workers.
Also, he insisted on bookkeeping and categorization of workers’ behavior to determine possible lacks in
productivity (Clegg et al., 2019, p. 424). In general, Bentham believed that everything must have a function,
everything should be usable, and every expenditure should lead to more productivity. In particular, this means
that he saw human needs like rest, toilette breaks, and leisure as necessary to keep efficiency up but tried to
push them down to a minimum. According to Bentham, there should not be any distraction from labor. His
key principle was: the maximum can always be extended! (Miller J. & Miller R., 1987)
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3. The modern Panopticon at Amazon
Even though Bentham’s idea of the Panopticon as a building was never realized his ideas are still present in
contemporary times. Due to technological progress, the implementation of the Panopticon might seem different, but the key ideas are very similar. A good example of the modern Panopticon is the working structures
and conditions at the warehouses of Amazon.
Amazon uses numerous devices to constantly monitor their workers, especially in and around the warehouses.
They installed several cameras that records and analyses every step workers take within the warehouses. Before employees can enter the warehouse, they have to give out all their personal belongings except a bottle of
water and a clear plastic bag with cash. While walking in and out they have to pass safety gates. This is
supposed to prevent theft but also distraction during the working day (Hanley & Hubbard, 2020, p.8).
The task field of the workers is highly divided and specified. The training period for a worker is therefore
quite short and workers get fast good in what they are doing (Apicella, 2016, p.14).
Furthermore, the workers must carry item scanners around. Through the item scanner, the employees receive
tasks and orders, but they also show the employees the shortest way through the warehouse, count how many
packages they shift in a certain time, and counts the seconds the workers take between finishing one task and
starting the other – also called ‘time off task’ by Amazon. The employees have to meet a certain rate of
productivity while working. If a worker is too slow or spends too much time off tasks the item scanner sends
out warnings. Amazon also recently patented wristbands that are supposed to track every movement of the
workers and vibrates if the worker moves in the wrong direction (Fanta, 2020).
The surveillance of the drivers of Amazon is similar. A navigation software tells them exactly the shortest
way to deliver the goods and monitors the breaks of the drivers (Hanley & Hubbard, 2020, p.9).
The breaks of employees of Amazon are strictly timed. During a 12-hour shift workers – in warehouses but
also the drivers – have a 30 minutes lunch break and two separate 15 minutes breaks (Hanley & Hubbard,
2020, p.9).
To come back to Bentham’s principles, it is visible that Amazon created a modern and improved form of
Bentham’s Panopticon. Employees at Amazon are not just aware of being seen but are monitored at any time
during the workday. Every movement is recorded and analyzed by the cameras, the item scanners and the
wristbands, so inefficient behavior of employees can be easily tracked, just as Bentham insisted. Through
counting the time off-task time and measuring the breaks of employees, time spent inefficiently is brought to
a minimum. Such as Bentham, Amazon also shares the idea of, ‘there is always space for improvement’ and
tries to push efficiency to a maximum. The only difference between the original and the modern Panoptical is
that the task of surveillance is nowadays performed by technology instead of human supervisors.
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4. Problems of the Panopticon at Amazon
As explained, Bentham such as Amazon sees the Panopticon as a way to increase efficiency and productivity
and decrease distraction at the workplace. Still, recent reports and protests have shown that Amazon might go
too far with the worker surveillance and endanger the employee’s well-being by expecting too much of their
workers. In the following, the effects of the modern Panopticon at Amazon will be discussed.
Amazon itself strongly denies the assaults of overly monitoring its workers: The high surveillance also has
advantages for the workers. Amazon claims to present its employees an open and transparent working space
where individual behavior is rated to identify the best employees and provide them career opportunities. Amazon explains that of course they always try to push their employees a bit further but on an appropriate level
(Kantor & Streitfeld, 2015). Amazon’s top priority is to keep its workers safe. Amazon even explains that due
to the high surveillance it is easier to take care of the safety of employees. As an example, Amazon gives the
safety measurements taken due to the COVID-19 situation. With help of the cameras and item scanners, Amazon can warn employees if they forget to keep the distance by sending out warnings. All in all, Amazon
presents itself as a controlling but carrying employer (Hanley & Hubbard, 2020, p.8).
Several reports of former employees tell a different story. They explain that the algorithm in the item scanners
that evaluates the productivity of the work of the employees is not reliable because it does not take all circumstances into account. It ignores, for example, injuries that make workers slower. Toilette breaks and even
breaks to drink some water are counted as ‘time-off tasks’ and therefore as inefficient. In addition, most of the
workers cannot rest during their 30- and 15-minutes break because the way through the warehouse to the break
rooms takes too much time and already counts into their break (Schipkowski, 2020).
The same applies to the drivers of Amazon. Apart from the contractual breaks they are not supposed to stop
delivering during their working times. If the driver does not deliver 999 of 1000 packages on time, he suffers
a high risk to be dismissed and therefore has a high pressure to stay on schedule (Hanley & Hubbard, 2020,
p.9). As a matter of effect, most workers just cannot relax during their breaks, they push bathroom breaks to
a minimum, and ignore injuries that might get worse through hard work to meet the productivity rate set by
Amazon. General human needs are counted as inefficiencies, this gives workers the feeling of being dehumanized (Hanley & Hubbard, 2020, p.10-12).
Besides, the employees do not know what rate they have to hit during a working day. They just get warnings
if they are working too slow. For average or even over average productivity there is no feedback. In the reports,
workers explain that this leads to a constant low-grade panic that they are might be working too slow and get
a warning or even get fired. So, although they might work for three persons at once they still feel like they
have to perform better. For Amazon, this, of course, means higher efficiency but for the employees, it means
pushing themselves to inhuman levels of productivity (Hanley & Hubbard, 2020, p.10-12).
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The pressure also rises due to the high division of work. Because the training period is so small workers are
easily exchangeable. So there is no reason for Amazon to keep periodically inefficient workers (Apicella,
2016, p.14).
Pieces of evidence for these assaults are the rankings of Amazon according to safety and health, especially in
the United States. In 2018 the National Council for Occupational Safety and Health listed Amazon as one of
the most dangerous places to work. The injury rate in the warehouses goes up to be five times as much as the
industry average in the states. Between 2013 and 2018 they have been 186 safety calls due to mental health
incidents and between 2015 and 2019 Amazon’s drivers caused over 60 car crashes that lead to serious injuries
and in 13 cases to death. Of course, it is not clear to say if these incidents are connected to high surveillance.
Still, Amazon does not provide the safe work environment that it presents (Hanley & Hubbard, 2020, p.1012).
Also, reports assert that the measurements taken because of the COVID-19 situation are not to keep workers
from being infected. Rather Amazon uses COVID-19 as an excuse to keep workers from connecting and
distracting each other and lower the possibilities that they get unionized (Hanley & Hubbard, 2020, p.13)
To summarize, although Amazon claims that the surveillance within the company is appropriate and does not
harm workers. Reports of former and current employees are telling the opposite. Multiple sources explain that
Amazon pushes its employees over the human limits and treats them as inhuman resources. As a consequence,
people are more likely to get injured or suffer from a mental health breakdown. Thus, Amazon’s application
of the Panoptical Principles leads to risking the health of their employees.
5. Solutions
So, how is it possible to prevent workers from suffering due to the modern Panoptical Principles? To find
solutions for this problem we have to reflect again on the main problems arising from the modern Panopticon:
The high pressure of constantly performing without any excuses such as injuries and the high productivity
standards pushes employees to risk their physical and mental health.
If Amazon itself could take some pressure to be starting to treat their employees more human. Thus, take
human needs into account. Amazon could encourage more interaction between supervisors and subordinates,
so on one hand supervisors can give comprehensive feedback about what subordinates could improve and
especially what they are already doing good. On the other, this could give employees the chance to explain
themselves in case they have reasons for not performing well during a period. This could take a lot of pressure
and even motivate the employees because they exactly know where they stand, and which goals are set by the
supervisors. There would be no need to push themselves over certain limits. At the same time, it would improve the working environment because it would create an atmosphere of openness and honesty (Clegg et al.,
2019, p. 424).
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If a company itself is not willing to change surveillance systems, the government has to lean in. Laws must be
established that protect workers from too invasive control such as in the case of Amazon. Also, there should
be more protection of employees from threats of health at the workplace. It should not be possible for employers to expose employees to such physical and mental health risks. Even though in some countries they are
already an extensive catalog of laws regarding safety the health and personality rights the example of Amazon
clearly shows that they are expandable (Hanley & Hubbard, 2020, p.14-17).
6. Conclusion
Jeremy Bentham’s ideas of the Panoptical Principle is strongly present in the modern economy. Companies
like Amazon show strong resemblances in the way they constructed surveillance but also in the way they treat
and especially push employees. The idea that the maximum can always be extended seems to influence economic decisions now and then.
Problems resulting from these principles are especially shown in the way companies following the modern
Panopticon are treating their employees. The working condition at the warehouses of Amazon shows that
workers are due to the pressure surveillance in combination with the high production standards are pushed
over human limits. Even though Amazon tries to fight these assaults reports about the mental and physical
health of their workers prove them wrong.
Possible solutions to the problem could be the change in the working structures of companies such as Amazon
or governmental interaction.
To return to the thesis of this essay. As shown due to technological progress surveillance has become much
easier but also much more invasive. The idea of total monitoring and constant increasing efficiency has led to
the dehumanization of labor. A result that is unacceptable for modern times where human and personal rights
became more important than ever. It might be understandable that companies strive for more efficiency because it leads to higher profits. Still, we should not forget that human resources and capital are still humans
that depend on needs. Treating them like robots will not only cause various unnecessary mental and physical
injuries it will also at some point lead to resistance and public protest. Rather than de-humanize workers we
should rely on the advantages of working with humans such as communication skills and reciprocal behavior.
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7. References
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Apicella, S. (2016). Amazon in Leipzig: Von den Gründen,(nicht) zu streiken. Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung.
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Clegg, S. R., Kornberger, M., Pitsis, T. S. & Mount, M. (2019). Managing and Organizations: An
Introduction to Theory and Practice (Fifth Aufl.). SAGE Publications Ltd.
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Fanta, A. (2020, 2. September). Neue Studie - So überwacht Amazon seine Beschäftigten in den USA.
netzpolitik.org https://netzpolitik.org/2020/neue-studie-so-ueberwacht-amazon-seine-beschaeftigtenin-den-usa/
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Hanley, D. A., & Hubbard, S. (2020). Eyes Everywhere: Amazon's Surveillance Infrastructure and
Revitalizing Worker Power.
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Jackson, P., Gharavi, H., & Klobas, J. (2006). Technologies of the self: Virtual work and the inner
panopticon. Information Technology & People.
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Kantor, J. & Streitfeld, D. (2015, 18. August). Inside Amazon: Wrestling Big Ideas in a Bruising Workplace. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/16/technology/inside-amazon-wrestling-big-ideas-in-a-bruising-workplace.html
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Miller, J. A., & Miller, R. (1987). Jeremy Bentham's panoptic device. October, 41, 3-29.
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Sainato, M. (2020, 27. Juli). ‘I’m not a robot’: Amazon workers condemn unsafe, grueling conditions
at warehouse. the Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/feb/05/amazon-workersprotest-unsafe-grueling-conditions-warehouse
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Schipkowski, K. (2020, 28. Oktober). Arbeitsbedingungen bei Amazon: Fatale Überwachung. TAZ
Verlags- und Vertriebs GmbH. https://taz.de/Arbeitsbedingungen-bei-Amazon/!5722884/
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