Self,Everyday Life And Power

Network technology has a profound impact on space discipline.The direct visibility of mobile internet technology,algorithms and visual archives formed by big data,together with the network technology as a tool of ideological discipline,radiate the disciplinary space to the whole society.In the current boom of live streaming,the author notes the important impact of two technological features on space discipline:technical empowerment and the breaking of physical space restrictions in the panoramic space created by live streaming technology.As a result,this study deeply explores the characteristics of the new discipline space formed by these two types of technologies,as well as the power operation mechanism and significance in the context of the popular phenomenon of study livestream on the Bilibili website.The research started in August 2020 and ended in December 2020,for a total of 5 months.During the research period,the author conducted daily 2-3 hours of participant observations in the live streaming learning rooms on the Bilibili platform and in-depth interviews with 22 anchors.The study found that the new disciplinary space formed by study livestreams mainly has two main characteristics: everyday and self-planning.In contrast to the single power operation mechanism in the prison,three main mechanisms are at work in the live streaming learning rooms.One is the automatic imposition of the “visible but unverifiable” power on the anchor,which is an important continuation of Foucault’s surveillance;the second is that the anchor passively accepts the “visible and verifiable” power,the so-called destructive gaze derived from Sartre;the third is that the anchor actively accepts the power to obtain the "imaginary gaze",which is derived from Lacan’s gaze theory.The emergence of the latter two power operation mechanisms stems from the fact that the anchor obtains the power to "see" by watching the popularity value of the broadcast room.In the process of the above three kinds of power operation,no matter passively or actively,the anchors are transformed into a disciplined object,so that the power disciplines themselves to maintain the learning state.In addition,study livestream presents a new kind of panopticism which is about the self,everyday life,and has the characteristics of position transformation,being seen alone and the function of transformation and experimentation.In the production process of surveillance relations,the learning anchor produces the knowledge about how to learn,and with the demand for such knowledge,the audience gathers in the live streaming room.The power relations formed by such knowledge relations are in fact an important basis on which the previous three mechanisms can operate.Finally,there is an inherent paradox in the spatial discipline in study livestreams.It both resists and inherits the social discipline.This subjective paradox shows the confusion between the technology of power and the technology of self,and fully highlights the identity anxiety and survival dilemma of contemporary young group.