The Power Devices of the Society of Control and its Modes of Subjectivation

Abstract

We are entering a new model of society, whose paradigm of domination is no longer exercised by the force of authoritarianism, but is implemented by attempting to induce the practices of the individuals. For that purpose it is necessary to create devices of power focused on the manufacturing of styles of subjectivation that are in accordance with the most urgent institutional demands. The new power devices aim at producing the individuals’ desires, so that their basic aspirations coincide with the structural goals. This subjection of the individual to the system’s symbolic universe is reached through the manufacturing of flexibilized subjectivities. At the other end, society establishes a control of the subjects’ practices on the basis of their measured results. This control of practices and the production of flexibilized subjectivities constitute the backbone of a new model of society of control.

Key words: society of control, power, subjectivity, desire, ethics.