LOCAL AUTONOMY VERSUS SOCIAL CONTROL The ambivalence of the territorialization of public action[AUTONOMIES LOCALES VERSUS CONTRÔLE SOCIAL Les ambivalences de la territorialisation de l'action publique]

Foucault gave the concept of "governmentality", introduced in 1978, a very broad definition, that of "conduct of conducts" and of the structural intervention of institutions in the field of action of people and individuals. Its construction creates a new grid for analyzing the place of power relations in social life, whose death of the philosopher did not allow the full deployment . This concept is fundamentally ambiguous: power and coercive mechanisms are no longer systematically contrary to freedoms, but they can, paradoxically, strengthen the capacity of individuals to act, while contributing to their subjugation. The territorialization of public policies is one of the most radical and universal reforms that the aparatuses of governmentality have undergone in decades. From the perspective of the evolution of power relations and their impact on the freedoms and capacities of individuals and social groups, the shift from central regulation to localized regulation has contradictory effects. On the one hand, it allows for the diversification of actors in collective life and the empowerment of their strategies. On the other hand, it strengthens the effectiveness of social control of behavior, whether "deviant" or not, by improving the link between institutional mesh and social gridlines. After briefly recalling the innovations introduced by the reference to governmentality in the conception of power relations and of their societal effects, this paper focuses on describing the main dynamics associated with the process of territorialization of public policies. Drawing on numerous examples from policies of urban planning, economic development, education, security, etc., it then highlights the relevance of the concept of governmentality in building a critical approach to the territorialization of policies and the decentralization of institutions.