Abstracts: Governmentality, Control, and Digital Policy: Applying French Theory to Global Digital Governance

This article examines global digital governance through the lens of French theory, specifically Michel Foucaults governmentality and Gilles Deleuzes control societies.It challenges the prevailing continuum between techno-expansionist discourse, which perceives technology as emancipatory, and techno-containment discourse, which focuses on risk mitigation.Drawing on Foucault, the analysis demonstrates how digital governance operates through subtle normalization rather than explicit prohibition.However, several limitations are identified in applying Foucaults state-centric framework to transnational digital infrastructures.Consequently, the inquiry turns to Deleuzes theory of modulation and the "individual" to understand algorithmic governance.In this context, subjects are categorized based on their recombinant data profiles, rendering traditional rights-based regulations increasingly ineffective.The article concludes that proposing "lines of flight" as creative alternatives to regulatory containment was exemplified by open-source movements that constitute new forms of digital autonomy.