The state increasingly depends on private instrumentarian power for its security aims

Evidence

The private institutions of capital led the way in this ambitious reformation of collective life and individual experience, but they found necessary support from public institutions, especially as the declaration of a “war on terror” legitimated every inclination to enshrine machine-produced certainty as the ultimate solution to societal uncertainty. These mutual affinities assured that instrumentarian power would not be a stepchild but rather an equal partner or even, with increasing regularity, the lord and master upon whom the state depends in its quest for “total awareness.” — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1226

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader ‘war on terror’ surveillance literature and to the founding account of surveillance capitalism as both economic and political. Echoes Foucault’s governmentality in reverse: private capital now supplies state power. — connects to: The state is transforming from a welfare apparatus into a security apparatus.; Western states must operate through surveillance capitalist firms to access instrumentarian power — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1255; Instrumentarian power governs through inducement and reinforcement rather than overt coercion — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1629 (+3 more)
• ADDENDUM: Aligns with the age-of-surveillance foundational thread: Zuboff here names the state-capital partnership that defines the platform era, useful backdrop for the infrastructure essay’s sentient systems angle.

Broader Connections

• Western states must operate through surveillance capitalist firms to access instrumentarian power #expands (0.82) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1255
• Instrumentarian power governs through inducement and reinforcement rather than overt coercion #expands (0.78) — Shoshana Zuboff, The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, 1629
• Ruling classes build parallel private military forces positioned on class frontiers #exemplifies (0.75)
• The state is transforming from a welfare apparatus into a security apparatus. #qualifies (0.72)