Learned voices of European citizens: from governmental to political subjectivation

The article focuses on the way in which voice operates within the current discourse of democracy, citizenship, and learning. Based on an analysis of «learning devices» and «citizenship devices» we will show that the individual is asked to articulate him or herself in particular ways as evidence of engagement, of inclusion, and of participatory democracy. It is someone’s «personhood» –issues related to identity, preferences, feelings of ownership– that comes to count as evidence of civic engagement and political involvement. This process of personalization –the inscription of the individual as a person that turns him or her into a European citizen– will be described as an important aspect of the current mode of governmental subjectivation. To address this we explore, in line with Jacques Rancière, the notion of «political subjectivation». While governmental subjectivation involves a process of identification with the order of society, political subjectivation is a paradoxical process of deidentification with the social order. It is about the articulation of one’s voice as equal within a social order in which one has no voice according to the ruling organisation of positions.