“A convincing and disturbing account of the hegemonic power of the economy, government and public life in our modern world.”<br /> <b><i>Tribune</i></b> <p>“This book explores the nature and form of governmentality in an intriguing and challenging way. It asks how it is that some things appear as problems that need management and regulation. It explores what constitutes the basis of these ‘problems’ and the processes which underpin them. This is sociology at its best and the results are fascinating.”<br /> <b>Ulrich Beck, <i>Universität Munchen</i></b></p> <p>“Miller and Rose present analyses of the expanded modern controls over, and recognition of, the individual. The imagery comes from Foucault, the studies focus on the professional analysts, and the conclusions suggest comparisons with earlier time periods. The book will interest all those concerned with modern rationalized individualism.”<br /> <b>John Meyer, <i>University of Stanford</i><br /> </b><br /> “Over the last decade Peter Miller and Nikolas Rose have opened up a new continent in the social sciences, the material and discursive constitution of the modern individual human subject. <i>Governing the Present</i> is a brilliant account of this exploration. After it, social theory will never be the same again.”<br /> <b>Michel Callon, <i>Centre de Sociologie de l'Innovation, Paris</i></b></p>
Bringing together empirical papers on the government of economic, social and personal life, the volume demonstrates clearly the importance of analysing these as conjoint phenomena rather than separate domains, and questions some cherished boundaries between disciplines and topic areas. Linking programmes and strategies for the administration of these different domains with the formation of subjectivities and the transformation of ethics, the papers cast a new light on some of the leading issues in contemporary social science modernity, democracy, reflexivity and individualisation.
This volume will be indispensable for all those, from whatever discipline in the social sciences, who have an interest in the concepts and methods necessary for critical empirical analysis of power relations in our present.
Acknowledgements vi
1 Introduction: Governing Economic and Social Life 1
2 Governing Economic Life 26
3 Political Power beyond the State: Problematics of Government 53
4 The Death of the Social? Re-figuring the Territory of Government 84
5 Mobilizing the Consumer: Assembling the Subject of Consumption 114
6 On Therapeutic Authority: Psychoanalytical Expertise under Advanced Liberalism 142
7 Production, Identity and Democracy 173
8 Governing Advanced Liberal Democracies 199
Bibliography 219
Index 239
Bringing together empirical papers on the government of economic, social and personal life, the volume demonstrates clearly the importance of analysing these as conjoint phenomena rather than separate domains, and questions some cherished boundaries between disciplines and topic areas. Linking programmes and strategies for the administration of these different domains with the formation of subjectivities and the transformation of ethics, the papers cast a new light on some of the leading issues in contemporary social science modernity, democracy, reflexivity and individualisation.
This volume will be indispensable for all those, from whatever discipline in the social sciences, who have an interest in the concepts and methods necessary for critical empirical analysis of power relations in our present.