Societies of control: deleuze’s interpretation of Foucault

Abstract

This study intends to show how the concept of societies of control – elaborated by Deleuze in the early 1990s as a diagnosis of contemporary societies – comes from the philosopher’s updated and singular interpretation of Foucault. First, we show how the notion already appears in an embryonic format in A new cartographer, a text in which Deleuze approaches Discipline and punish, a book that has become essential in contemporary debate on social control, the very year it was published. Then we highlight the particulars of Deleuze’s concept of societies of control, pointing out the limited appearance of the notion in Foucault’s work. Finally, we suggest that Deleuze captured Foucault’s critical program in Discipline and punish by formulating a concept whose diagnostic capability remains current contributing to the analyses of the development of networks and technological control devices.