L1&2: Intro to Totalitarianism

L1&2: Intro to TotalitarianismAgenda

Objective: To understand…1. The theory of

panopticism2. How totalitarian

regimes rely on panopticism as a means of control

Schedule: 1. Unit Schedule and

Assignment2. Video and Discussion3. Foucault4. Discussion of

Totalitarianism

•

Homework1. Read Nineteen

Eighty Four and generate a list of characteristics of totalitarian regimes. Due: L2 Tuesday/Wed

2. Excerpt from The Russian Revolution Due L3: Thursday

3. Writing Goals Due: L3 Thursday

New Unit!

• Unit Schedule & Assignments

The Elf on the Shelf Commercial

Story Time With Dr. Cacace!

• Let’s Read the Elf on the Shelf

• Gather ‘round children…

The Elf on the Shelf and Panopticism

• The type of control exhibited by The Elf on the Shelf is called panopticism.

• Panopticism is the defining feature of the types of governments will be studying in our next unit: totalitarianism.

The Panopticon

Panopticon

• How does the Panopticon work to ensure that prisoners “behave”?

Panopitcism• Theory of discipline and power

developed by French sociologist Michel Foucault in 1975.

• Argues that the type of control used in the panopticon, has been used by other institutions that need to keep a “population” under observation: schools, mental hospitals, factories, etc.

• Foucault reading…– Working with your group you will

read an excerpt from Foucault’s Discipline & Punish.

– Based on your reading, generate a list of the characteristics of panopticism.

Panopticism

• What are the elements of panopticism?

Panopticism: Example

• Foucault argued that the type of control used in the Panopticon has also been used to control other populations in other institutions, for example schools.

• How do schools rely on panopticism to ensure control and compliance?

Totalitarianism• Following World War One, the world

saw the rise of totalitarian governments in a variety of nations including: The Soviet Union, China, Italy, and Germany.

• Totalitarianism:– Political System, compatible with a

variety of ideologies (communism, fascism, Nazism), in which which the government recognizes no limits to its authority and strives to regulate every aspect of public and private life.

– Totalitarian governments stay in power through the use of a mode of control called panopticism.

Totalitarianism

• If the defining feature of totalitarian governments is that they stay in power through the use of panopticism, how do you imagine totalitarian governments? What is life like in these regimes?

1984 and Totalitarianism• Based on your reading of

1984 what are some characteristics of totalitarian regimes?