Singapore Essay example -- Politics, Social Control

Can Singapore be described in terms of a Foucauldian disciplinary cab aret or a Deleuzian control society? Deleuze proposed that we are in the midst of shift from Foucaults society of discipline to a society of control (1992 3). Unlike the disciplinary society where subjects progress from one moulding institution to another (schools, college, factories, offices, etc.), a control society is typified by constant modulation (Wise, 2002 32). According to Rose, control operates by affiliating subjects to a variety of practices which by design encourage adherence to certain norms in modern liberal societies (2000 325). This is what Deleuze meant by a society of control. Best believes we motive to adopt the Deleuzian concept of a control society to explain the societies emerging in the context of the increased surveillance and network capacity permitted by new-made ICTs (2010 9). On the other hand, Hardt and Negri propose this society of control is simply an intensification and generali sation of the normalising apparatuses of disciplinarity, that now reaching beyond the institutions that initiated them and into fluctuating networks (2000 23). Likewise, Munro believes Foucaults disciplinary appliance need updating to bring it in-line with the capacities of modern technologies, not replacing (2000 693).It is necessary to distinguish between unconscious social control and social control in relation to the institution, the latter being the planned management of a socialised human activity (Lianos, 2003 415). Institutional control is integral to the specific activities, is usually bureaucratic, and is commence both of the rationale and the outcome of these activities (Lianos, 2003 415). Lianos uses the example of... ... Google offers free storage space, along with other privileges and useful tools, in exchange for personal breeding that it might use to securities industry targeted goods to its users (Andrejevic, 2007 296). People submitted their details to Google and Facebook not out of fear or a sense of duty, but so they may enjoy the benefits offered. Although Singaporeans do value their privacy, they are willing to submit that privacy in exchange for financial rewards or convenience (Hui et al., 2007 27). These authors also report a growing disgruntlement at the increasing amounts of information that websites are demanding. However, it was the quantity of information requested, rather than the sensitivity of the information that had any significant influence on compliance (Hui et al., 2007 27). This certainly aligns with the enticement model proposed by Whitaker (1999 141).