Surveilled childhood: a Foucauldian-Vygotskian critique of youth development in the digital age

This paper examines how digital surveillance reshapes youth development through a Foucauldian-Vygotskian lens, synthesizing Foucault’s concepts of disciplinary power and biopolitics with Vygotsky’s theories of social mediation and internalization. It argues that surveillance technologies—ranging from algorithmic monitoring to biometric tracking—embed disciplinary power into developmental processes, shaping identity formation, emotional regulation, and agency. By comparing historical precedents, such as the Soviet youth project, with contemporary digital surveillance, the paper demonstrates the continuity of power dynamics in shaping childhood experiences. This Foucauldian-Vygotskian synthesis highlights the paradox of digital surveillance, revealing how normative regulation and youth agency emerge simultaneously within surveilled environments. Youth navigate these conditions by curating digital identities, strategically performing algorithmically acceptable behaviors while cultivating private selves. The paper concludes by proposing strategies for educational reform, privacy protections, and ethical technology design, emphasizing the need to balance the benefits of surveillance with youth autonomy and emotional agency to mitigate harms and support self-determination.