ABSTRACT
Back in the early 1970s, computer enthusiasts James Martin and Adrian Norman noted that ‘a surprising amount of what George Orwell imagined now looks plausible'. This chapter argues that, while Nineteen Eighty-Four has in many ways been superseded technologically, limited but important aspects of its account of a surveillance society still remain relevant today. It argues that the question of how far the Panopticon provides a useful model for understanding electronic surveillance. George Orwell wrote Nineteen Eighty-Four as a dystopia, that is, an account whose intent is the opposite of utopia; a literary depiction of an undesirable, avoidable but conceivable future state of society. The Panopticon has been used for analysing surveillance in a number of different settings; the workplace, government administration, and consumer contexts.
