My second year at university. Having switched from law to sociology and economics (even though I ultimately came back to law as a postgraduate) I was in a Sociology of Organisations class.
My lecturer, Prof. Philip Davies, had set us an assignment. The topic was in relation to how power is exercised within organisations and more particularly how a ‘panopticon’ enhances such dynamics. Prof. Davies had asked us to consider and provide modern examples of organisations that resemble (the structure/effects of) a panopticon. (NB: A panopticon is a design of institutional building with an inbuilt system of control, originated by the English philosopher and social theorist Jeremy Bentham in the 18th century. The concept is to allow all prisoners of an institution to be observed by a single security guard, without the inmates knowing whether they are being watched)
On receiving my ass…