Rotary Jail and Foucault

The Crawfordsville rotary jail is the last functioning jail of its kind, though it is used for tours and does not actually detain prisoners. The concept is simple: placing prisoners in a seemingly inescapable prison where the cells rotate when put in motion by a by-standing guard. The guard has control, protected by a metal-barred door which is the only entry and exit point for the prisoners. However, although the idea seems perfect on paper, this rotary jail had issues which led to the closing of the prison. For example, the heating and cooling system was insufficient, often leading to prisoners becoming ill and sometimes turning fatal. Most of the prison was made of metal, so when it was summer the prisoners were hot and when it was winter the prisoners were cold. Also, the rotating prison caused several prisoners to lose limbs when they were caught in the metal when in rotation. The concept possessed several benefits, but also had detrimental flaws.

Some of the benefits of the rotary jail are similar to Michel Foucault's concept of "the gaze". Foucault conceptualizes a panopticon- a center tower placed in the center of the prison which allows the guard to observe any prisoner at any moment- that would place the prisoner under constant surveillance of "the gaze". The rotary jail possesses similar traits insofar as the prisoners inside the cell can be shifted at any given point to be viewed by the guard. However, the two differ because the panopticon does not allow the prisoners to know when they are being watched; whereas in the rotary jail, the prisoner is aware that they are center stage. The panopticon would, theoretically, push prisoners to discipline themselves in fear of being caught doing something wrong. The rotary jail had several cells blind to the eye of the guard which left many prisoners isolated. The prisoners in the rotary jail could know when they were being viewed and only needed to discipline themselves when under the spotlight.