ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes that the governmentality perspective provides a fruitful theoretical perspective for understanding recent reforms in public administrations in Western societies. It shows that the transformation of public administrations and of the understanding of what it means to be a civil servant fits well into the main line of argument advanced by the governmentality literature. The chapter examines more closely the consequences of the organizational transformation and the ideal of self-governance for the subjectivity of the civil servant using the theoretical concepts of in-distinction zones, hybrid identities and self-control. The concepts of in-distinction zones, hybrid identities and self-control associated with control society help analyse the more specific consequences of the overall development towards self-governance in public administration. Through a micro level analysis of an extreme case of a public sector network organization, this chapter examines how the ideal of self-governance fundamentally changes and recreates the subjectivity of the civil servant.
