23. Reality TV, Governmentality, and Citizenship
Laurie Ouellette (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities), James Hay (University of Illinois at Urbana, Champaign); participants: Janet Davis (University of Texas at Austin), Paul Stekler (University of Texas at Austin), Gareth Palmer (Universit of Salford), Mark Andrejevic (University of Iowa), Jack Bratich (Rutgers University), Leigh Edwards (Florida State University), moderator: Caitlin Collins (University of Texas at Austin)

Question: How is TV being reinvented to make it useful within current programs of government--within the reinvention of government (broadly conceived)? This panel will discuss television's relationship to governing, conceptualized in the broadest Foucaultian sense of guiding and shaping conduct. We will situate reality TV within changing rationalities of liberal government, focusing on the way in which television has become integral to reforms such as privatization, "out-reach," and out-sourcing, as well as to advanced liberal strategies of acting upon private authorities, NGOs, "community," and personal regimens (technologies of the self). We'll consider television as an institution of social welfare and a cultural technology, looking at how it facilitates the care of the self through a variety of means, from corporate partnerships with charitable institutions to popular lifestyle tutorials. Finally, we'll discuss TV's relationship to the reinvention of government, the ownership society, homeland security and the work of agencies like the Point of Light Foundation and the USA Freedom Corps.

Mark Andrejevic's Response

Laurie Ouellette and James Hay's Response

Jack Bratich's Response

Leigh Edwards's Response

Gareth Palmer's Response

Paul Stekler's Response