DIGITAL SURVEILLANCE AND INTERNALIZED CONTROL: READING THE EVERY THROUGH FOUCAULT AND ZUBOFF

Abstract

This paper examines The Every by Dave Eggers as a critical narrative of technological surveillance and its psychological implications in the digital age. The primary aim of the study is to investigate how corporate surveillance practices, driven by surveillance capitalism and panoptic power, shape human behavior, agency, and mental autonomy. Drawing on Shoshana Zuboff’s theory of surveillance capitalism and Michel Foucault’s concept of the panoptic gaze, the research employs a qualitative, interpretivist, and hermeneutic methodology. Using Greenham’s six-layered close reading approach, the study analyzes the commodification of emotions, relationships, and behavioral patterns as data assets. The findings reveal that pervasive algorithmic surveillance leads to psychological manipulation, erosion of individual agency, and normalization of behavioral conformity. By contextualizing Delaney’s fate within a broader socio-psychological framework, the thesis demonstrates how digital dependency restructures human experience and mental health under contemporary surveillance regimes.