Non-disciplinary power and the network society

Iain Michael Fraser Munro

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    Abstract

    This article addresses Foucault's concept of disciplinary power and asks whether it is an adequate concept for describing the power relations emerging as part of recent developments in information technology, In fact, this article will show that some non-disciplinary forms of power are transforming many areas of social life, allowing for the development of new information-based institutions, different sites of resistance to power, and increasing social divisions based around the access to information. Drawing on Foucault's concept of a 'diagram of power', this article will propose a diagram based on the network which better describes the power relations at work in modern information technology than do the concepts of discipline or the sovereign.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)679-698
    Number of pages17
    JournalOrganization
    Volume7
    Issue number4
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - Nov 2000

    Keywords

    • diagram
    • discipline
    • information technology
    • network
    • power relations
    • TECHNOLOGY
    • ETHICS

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