Call for Papers for the 2009 Society for Social Study of Science (4S)
Technique-ology of Governmentality: Mapping a Modern Legacy
Simanti Dasgupta, University of Dayton
With the advent of the InfoTech and digital technologies, the technologies of governance have transformed but the techniques of governmentality have remained unchanged. The new technologies of governmentality may have increased the efficacy of bureaucracy, however the technique of bureaucratic structure is still significantly Weberian. Modalities of technologies have allowed contemporary state apparatus in the form of e-governance (for instance) to strengthen the link between the state and the citizens. This active technological collaboration between the two has been framed in a democratic rhetoric of enhanced governance. Technological intervention has ensured neo-liberal values as accountability, transparency and responsiveness to be the new mantras for governments to succeed. Technology being a supposedly value “neutral” scientific register has purportedly circumvented parochial petty politics and has transformed governance into a seemingly more democratic political process. Yet, the notions of surveillance that underscore these “techniques” of governmentality are not new.
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