Modulation after Control (Simondon contra Deleuze)

Modulation after Control, New Formations 84-85, On Societies of Control, ed. J. Gilbert and A. Goffey, 2015, 74-91. “The role of modulation in Deleuze’s thought in general, and in the article on control societies in particular, reveals an aporia concerning the consistency of this concept: isn’t the idea of control societies a realisation of Deleuze’s philosophy?”

Abstract: This article revisits the concept of modulation in Gilles Deleuze’s Postscript on Control Societies, in which he announces control societies as the new paradigm succeeding Michel Foucault’s disciplinary society. Deleuze characterises this shift in terms of a shift from ‘moulding’ to ‘modulation’, namely from a form-imposing mode to a self-regulating mode. The concept of modulation is crucial to Deleuze’s reinterpretation of the history of philosophy, where he employs it to turn against, for example, Aristotle’s hylomorphism and Kant’s transcendental categories. The role of modulation in Deleuze’s thought in general, and in the article on control societies in particular, reveals an aporia concerning the consistency of this concept: isn’t the idea of control societies a realisation of Deleuze’s philosophy? On the other hand it urges us to consider how modulation is realised through digital technologies, which occupy a central role in his article on control societies, and are further taken up by contemporary media theorists such as Alexander Galloway and Antoinette Rouvroy. This article attempts to address these two questions by looking again at the work of Gilbert Simondon, whose concept of modulation was an inspiration to Deleuze. For Simondon, the concept of modulation is closely related to technology, a dimension not sufficiently explored by Deleuze. By exploring Simondon’s 1961 paper ‘Amplification in the Process of Information’, this article elaborates on the concept of modulation, in relation to technical amplification and individuation. It attempts to show that how modulation can also be understood as a way to resist the tendency of ‘disindividuation’ in control societies, and that the ‘modulative’ mode of control societies is only one possible outcome from the philosophical concept of modulation. It concludes with a concrete practical example from within the development of alternative social networks.

Latest from Blog

“Technological Pluralism” in WIRED (vol. 50, Sep. 2023) (JP)

『WIRED』US版の創刊から30周年という節目のタイミングとなる今号では、「30年後の未来」の様相を空想する。ちなみに、30年後は2050年代──つまりはミッドセンチュリーとなる。“前回”のミッドセンチュリーはパックスアメリカーナ(米国の覇権による平和)を背景に欧米的な価値観や未来像が前景化した時代だったとすれば、“次”のミッドセンチュリーに人類は、多様な文化や社会や技術、さらにはロボットやAIエージェントを含むマルチスピーシーズが織りなす多元的な未来へとたどり着くことができるだろうか? 空想の泰斗・SF作家たちとともに「Next Mid-Century」を総力特集する。 テッド・チャン、劉 慈欣、池澤春菜、マリアーナ・エンリケス、倉田タカシ、N・K・ジェミシン、高山羽根子、ウォレ・タラビ、藤井太洋、ユク・ホイ、齋藤精一、ベッキー・チェンバーズ、長谷川 愛、三宅陽一郎、山田胡瓜、ププル・ビシュト、川崎和也、津久井五月、逢坂冬馬、安堂ホセ、池上英子、市川沙央、市川春子、伊藤亜和、稲見昌彦、円城 塔、岡 瑞起、川和田恵真、斉藤賢爾、齋藤帆奈、Jen.two、Jini、柴田勝家、アンソニー・ダン、陳 楸帆、エレナ・トゥタッチコワ、野﨑まど、伴名 練、比嘉夏子、Peterparker69、ジョアンナ・ファン、フラン・ラブシャーニュ、松田桂一、宮内悠介、村上由鶴、和田夏実、吉上 亮、水野祐、なみちえ、川田十夢など。 More info Full Text