Digital panopticism and organizational power

Abstract

This article considers digital media with respect to surveillance and organizational power. It tries to combine concepts and logics from different theories to put together a framework with which to understand the current situation. It works with the systems theory of Niklas Luhmann in order to explain how power works in organizations, and Medium Theory to explain how norms in contemporary society are made inconsistent in relation to the current information situation provided by digital media. On this background this article tries to bridge the gap between the concept of surveillance and the concept of power in order to outline a neutral understanding of the monitoring of human activities. It is a theoretical article and its conclusions are analytical.