‘Network Subjectivity’ in the Digital Condition: Three Theoretical Envisionings

Abstract

There are currently various academic accounts of contemporary sociality. While the concept of the ‘digtital condition’ seems to lend itself to a cultural interpretation, those of ‘informationalism’ and ‘postsociality’ may be appropriate for describing, from a sociological perspective, specific phenomena of changes to sociality in the digital condition. The emergence of the term ‘knowledge economy’ appears to invite an intersection of cultural and sociological perspectives and proceeding from this starting point, this chapter identifies the shared parameters of these perspectives in relation to the conditions of subjectivity, of high relevance to education, in a networked, media-driven society. The work underlying the chapter examines these issues via the metaphor of ‘network subjectivity’, employing the findings of an empirical study, theory of government, and psychoanalysis.