The book intensively explores the governance techniques of control of public behaviour in the context of mediation. It draws on Michel Foucault's historic formulations — "governmentality" and "conduct of conduct" — but expands them to the contemporary times to trace the evolution of surveillance from the pre-digital past to the digital present.
The analysis covers three sequential phases: i) The Broadcast era and the people-as-mass audience; ii) The Biopolitical epoch and the people-as-aggregates; iii) The Algorithmic time with people-as-data points. In its endeavour to highlight an under-focused area the book unravels how the innovative and unique mediating strategies of each phase unleash modulation of the identity of the public in the name of governance.
Written in a lucid and engaging way, the book will be useful for academics, researchers and advanced students in social sciences and humanities. It will also be of interest to general readers seeking an appropriate and updated understanding of the behind-the-scene maneuvering of governance for nearly nine decades.
