The Xinjiang detention centers : a perversion of Jeremy Bentham’s ideal panoptic structure or its stark reality?

Abstract

The modern convergence of technology and social control has met its current peak in Xinjiang, China, as millions of ethnic and religious minorities are targeted, confined, and reformed in the region’s camp detention system. In an effort to contain social crisis and reinforce critical control over the region, the Chinese government has introduced harsh surveillance measures purposed to alter the region’s culture and identity. The design and purpose of this immense program is not a new structure to mankind however, as English philosopher Jeremy Bentham had developed a precursor of this system in the form of the Panopticon in the late 18th century. Tracing the development and structure of Bentham’s theoretical concept, it can be shown that the current detention system in Xinjiang is not a perversion of Bentham’s design, but it’s practical implementation in the modern surveillance state.