ABSTRACT
As we argued in the introduction, it would have been politically unwise to legitimate the institutional reforms presented in the previous chapter in the starkly utilitarian terms that underlay their creation. To admit that the government is unable to counter instability with its own means and that it is forced to shift part of the burden on to society holds scant appeal for a population that either is used to receiving benefits without having to give anything in return, for instance former state enterprise employees, or did not have much contact with government organizations in the first place, such as migrant workers or self-made entrepreneurs. Clearly, another justification for the planned co-optation of people’s energy and labour to serve the purposes of the Party-state was needed. This was even more apparent as these objectives could only be fulfilled if coercion and supervision were kept to a minimum and people could be called upon to co-operate voluntarily. Hence, techniques of government other than supervision and subjugation had to be employed.
