American Governmentality

Abstract

The governing that now pervades the developed world is so omnipresent that it seems virtually natural. Administration—specific forms of rationality, authority, and participation—was, nonetheless, a development. French philosopher Michel Foucault argued that this development could be understood as governmentality”—a new arrangement among sovereignty, discipline, and government that made the art of governing both thinkable and practicable. This article explores the utility of French philosopher Michel Foucault's approach within the field of public administration. Reinvestigating the works of Woodrow Wilson, Frederick Winslow Taylor, and Mary Parker Follett, we demonstrate that their approaches can be interpreted as establishing the basic contours of American governmentality.

Adhocratic Governance in the Internet Age: A Case of Wikipedia

“…Similarly, Viégas, Wattenberg and McKeon (2007) discuss Wikipedia in terms of "self-organizing" and "self-governing" communities. Such language closely resembles that concerning an elusive but increasingly popular -cracy --the "adhocracy," a self-evolved organizational structure --used in discussions both of organizational-level governance (Mintzberg & McHugh, 1985;Waterman, 1993) and of country-level governance (Cawley, 1997; 6 / 53 Rourke, 1989).…”

Beyond the boardroom: governmental perspectives on corporate governance

“…"This is what it means, now, to say that the population is manageable and that it is managed" (Cawley and Chaloupka, 1997, p. 36). Cawley and Chaloupka (1997) further highlight how Fredrick W. Taylor made this form of thinking practical through the story of Schmidt, the pig iron worker. Taylor not only got Schmidt to increase his productivity, but also made him glad to do it by creating a new identity, that of a "high priced man", and showing him the technique to adopt such an identity.…”

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Η πολιτική του Μ. Foucault

“…Εάν ο 'επιστημονικός' λεγόμενος σοσιαλισμός αναδύθηκε από τις Ουτοπίες του 19 ου αιώνα, ίσως μια πραγματική κοινωνικοποίηση να αναδυθεί στον 20 ο αιώνα, μέσα από τις εμπειρίες. 511…”

“…Ο Foucault υποστηρίζει πως «η ιδέα της δικαιοσύνης καθεαυτή είναι μια ιδέα που ουσιαστικά επινοήθηκε και μπήκε σε λειτουργία σε διάφορους τύπους κοινωνίας σαν όργανο μιας συγκεκριμένης πολιτικής και οικονομικής εξουσίας ή σαν όπλο εναντίον αυτής της εξουσίας». 514 Οπωσδήποτε όμως η ιδέα αυτή λειτουργεί σε μια κοινωνία τάξεων σαν αξίωση που προβάλλεται από την καταπιεσμένη τάξη και σαν 511 Revolutionary Action: "Until Now". Actuel no.…”