Either Hobbessian or Machiavellian in their provenance, modern theories of power assume that all power flows through technology. Thus, they predict that the adoption of new technologies will increase control of power by organizations and marginalization by labor. This article argues that their error is inherent to the limits of these theories, according to Foucault; exposes the recent debates on flexible specialization; at last, it is argued that changes in work techniques have distinct results. After all, the contingencies of both power and organizations are complex, interdependent and, to a point, potentially capable of change.
Power and technology; flexible specialization; modern theories of power; organizational power; new technologies in organizations