Da sociedade disciplinar à sociedade de controle digital: limites e desafios do direito na perspectiva de Foucault e Deleuze

limits and challenges of law in the perspective of Foucault and Deleuze

Abstract

This article investigates how Law can regulate forms of power that, in contemporary times, are no longer concentrated in identifiable physical institutions but are dispersed in a diffuse, invisible manner mediated by data. Drawing on the theoretical contributions of Michel Foucault, especially in Discipline and Punish, and of Gilles Deleuze, in his Postscript on the Societies of Control, the article reconstructs the transition from the disciplinary society - founded on visible surveillance and institutional confinement - to the digital control society, characterized by the continuous modulation of behavior through algorithms, mass data collection, and digital platforms. It is argued that contemporary power does not merely repress, but anticipates, influences, and produces subjectivities, rendering control more pervasive and less perceptible. Against this diagnosis, the article analyzes the insufficiency of the traditional legal framework - structured to deal with territorialized powers and identifiable institutions - to respond to the complexity of algorithmic surveillance. Existing normative instruments, such as Brazil's General Data Protection Law (LGPD) and the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), are examined, highlighting their limits. It is concluded that contemporary Law still operates predominantly under disciplinary logic and requires a paradigmatic reinvention to confront the digital control society.