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Governmentality and 'the Death of the Social'?: A Discourse Analysis of Local Government Texts in South-east England

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  • Kevin Stenson

    (Social Policy Research Group, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire HP11 2JZ, UK, kstens01@buckscol.ac.uk)

  • Paul Watt

    (Social Policy Research Group, Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire HP11 2JZ, UK, p.watt@uel.ac.uk)

Abstract

Writers from within the Foucauldian govern mentality school have characterised recent governmental trends, associated with neo-liberal political rationalities, as manifestations of the death of the collectivist and universalist character of the 'social'. However, the unfolding of these developments varies both between and within nation-states. Drawing upon a discourse analysis of two local government texts from a local authority district in south-east England, the paper emphasises that at this local level the 'social' is reformulated rather than displaced in the way that the grand narrative of the 'decline of the social' implies. In both documents, albeit in different ways, neo-liberal discourse operates in tension with a continuing emphasis upon appearing to maintain equitable and universally legitimate service provision. This amounts not to the death, but rather to a reformulation, of the social.

Suggested Citation

  • Kevin Stenson & Paul Watt, 1999. "Governmentality and 'the Death of the Social'?: A Discourse Analysis of Local Government Texts in South-east England," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 36(1), pages 189-201, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:urbstu:v:36:y:1999:i:1:p:189-201
    DOI: 10.1080/0042098993817
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. J Peck & A Tickell, 1995. "The Social Regulation of Uneven Development: ‘Regulatory Deficit’, England's South East, and the Collapse of Thatcherism," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 27(1), pages 15-40, January.
    2. C Hamnett, 1997. "A Stroke of the Chancellor's Pen: The Social and Regional Impact of the Conservatives' 1988 Higher Rate Tax Cuts," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 29(1), pages 129-147, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Patrick O’Keeffe, 2018. "Creating a governable reality: analysing the use of quantification in shaping Australian wheat marketing policy," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 35(3), pages 553-567, September.

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