The Information State in England is a ground-breaking study of the history of the state's surveillance of its citizens. Taking issue with authors such as Michel Foucault and Anthony Giddens, Edward Higgs argues that state information gathering in England over the last 500 years cannot be seen simply in terms of an expansion towards modernity, or as social control. The English state in this period was always an Information State, and in its modern form it is as much about winning consent via the provision of benefits as ...
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The Information State in England is a ground-breaking study of the history of the state's surveillance of its citizens. Taking issue with authors such as Michel Foucault and Anthony Giddens, Edward Higgs argues that state information gathering in England over the last 500 years cannot be seen simply in terms of an expansion towards modernity, or as social control. The English state in this period was always an Information State, and in its modern form it is as much about winning consent via the provision of benefits as repression of the interests of elites.
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