From Pervasive Technologies to Technology of the Self. A Counter-Subjectivation argument for a Shift in the Critical Theory of Cyberspace
by Ilaria Santoemma
pp. 49-68 Issue 22 (11,2) July-December 2024 ISSN (online): 2539/2239 ISSN (print): 2389-8232 DOI: https://doi.org/10.14718/SoftPower.2024.11.2.3
Abstract
This paper aims to contribute to the discourse on the intersection of power dynamics and subjectivation processes as explored in critical theory, particularly in response to the digital transformation brought about by information and communications technologies and cyberspace. It argues that, despite some important attempts being made in literature to conceptualize a Foucauldian analytics of power regarding the impact of the digital dominion on subjectivity production, there is a lack of understanding of the technology of the self. The premise of the argument is that of info-dominion and subjectivity production, found in mechanisms such as profiling, dematerialization, and machinery determinism, that are extensively reliant on a subject as the inscription surface of digital reality. This paper will contribute to the subjectivity-making debate in the digital shift, recasting some conceptualities from French philosopher Michel Foucault that are relatively undeveloped in the critical studies of cyberspace, arguing for a thesis of counter-subjectivation.