Grace Ann Rosile
Academy of Management 2001
Abstract Page
Submission # 31542
Government and Freedom
Webster's defines "govern" as: to regulate; to
influence; to direct; to restrain; to manage; as, to govern the life; to
govern a horse (Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, 1996, 1998, MICRA,
Inc.)
The ultimate freedom is self-discipline, as Foucault
recognized in his later work. The
ultimate government is self-government. We
can not govern (regulate, influence, direct, restrain, manage) that of which
we are unaware, that which we can not "see".
How do we see ourselves? Through what mirrors do we look?
In the first row of photos, self-reflection begins as attention to the
(mirror) image. The image has
acquired a life of its own, apart from the originary source (see Baudrillard's
work on simulacra). At the end of
the series, closer attention brings the image and the author into closer
proximity (integrity). The second
row of photos begins with self-awareness attracting the attention of another,
and then the mirror image is displaced by seeing (losing?) the self in the
eyes of the other. In the final
photo, movements of both the horse and the photographer suddenly bring the
photographer (me) into view, photographing myself as I photograph the horse. The horse (Nahdion) sees what has previously been out of his
line of sight, and I see myself in a new way, in action while I am unaware of
being observed and recorded. When
critically engaged, such higher levels of reflexivity lead to higher levels of
both discipline and freedom, in the self and in governments.
Who watches the watchers? What
governs the governors?
Key words: 1. self-reflexivity; 2. monitoring; 3.
self-government
Title Page
Submission #31542
TITLE: Government and Freedom
Art & Poetry Submission
Grace Ann Rosile, Ph.D.
Horse Sense At Work
garosile@aol.com, garosile@zianet.com
www.horsesenseatwork.com
2831 Buena Vida Ct.
Las Cruces, NM 88011-5056
Phone: 505-532-1693
Fax: 505-646-1372