ABSTRACT
Governmentality has four clear principles. First, governmentality involves the development and deployment of specific strategies and forms of knowledge to tackle particular problems. Second, governmentalist strategies are predicated upon increasing individual freedom while reducing the role of, say, the state or management. Third, governmentalist strategies are legitimised to the extent that they are rendered neutral, rather than furthering a particular vested interest. Fourth, governmentalist strategies develop credible ways to define, monitor and assess a population so that specific types of individuals can be targeted for intervention. Governmentality points us towards how the articulation of meta-languages of political theory are translated into expert knowledge and routine practices. The paradox of governmentality is that it is inversely related to power. The power of accounting, for instance, is greatest when focused on those 'who are subject to the visibility that it creates and the constant surveillance that it makes possible'.
