III. Controllability

Making the world controllable means (1) rendering it visible, (2) rendering it physically reachable or accessible, (3) rendering it manageable, and (4) rendering it useful. These four dimensions are embedded in the institutional arrangements by which modern societies are sustained: (1) science, (2) technology, (3) the economy, and (4) law and the state. Machtkämpfe are Kontrollkämpfe or, more precisely, Verfügbarkeitskämpfe: power struggles are struggles for control and, thus, for an individual or collective actor’s capacity to render the world (1) visible, (2) reachable or accessible, (3) manageable, and (4) useful on their terms and in accordance with their interests, agendas, and desires.