Managerial formations and coupling among the state, the market, and civil society: an emerging effect of governance

By taking up the fact that some non-governmental organizations adapt to managerialism under governance mechanisms, this article addresses an emerging governance effect that paves the way for a particular relationship among the state, the market, and civil society. Such relationship, defined here as coupling, is formed and perpetuated through managerial organizational knowledge, professionalized communication techniques, and the reflexive surveillance mechanisms inherent in governance settings. This argument suggests that economic and market rationalities now penetrate into wider fields of social life, notwithstanding actual and possible contestations, resistances, and failures. I draw inspiration primarily from Michel Foucault’s notion of governmentality in examining how coupling develops. I also engage with some other key social theorists, including Max Weber, Jurgen Habermas, and Jodi Dean, to advance a critique of the contemporary influence of managerial formations on the field of governance.