State Sovereignty, Globalization and the Rise of Soft Capitalism

Abstract

The article analyses the emergence of new forms of knowledge associated to managerialism. Thrift tracks the origins and the networks through which such knowledge spreads (from schools of management, consultants, books and management gurus). He identifies a pastoral dimension in the new forms of managerial governmentality which have spread beyond the private realm of corporations and to public discourses of governmental administration. This pastoral dimension has been heavily influenced by what is described as the 'psy' disciplines and new age discourses, which increasingly emphasise the need for individuals to make a project of themselves and highlgight self-satisfaction and other personal qualities as central to leadership. When analysing the impact of such forms of managerial knowledge -more associated with 'soft' personality skills than with 'hard' skills-, Thrift questions the actual retreat of the state and shows, rather, that the reliance on these new forms of governmentality actually imply much more state influence and control over spheres that were previously considered the realm of the individual.