Duyguların siyaseti: dijital çağda utanç, itibar ve denetim

Öz

Bu makale, toplumsal düzenin görünmez duygusal mimarisinde utançtan itibara uzanan dönüşümü incelemektedir. Klasik toplumlarda birey, normatif düzeni utanç yoluyla içselleştirirken; geç modern ve dijital toplumlarda toplumsal kontrol, itibar üzerinden dışsallaşmış bir görünürlük ve performans mantığına evrilmiştir. Entegratif literatür taraması ve kavramsal sentez yöntemiyle yürütülen çalışma, duyguların toplumsal düzenin yeniden üretimindeki işlevini çok katmanlı biçimde analiz etmektedir. Foucault’nun disipliner iktidar çözümlemesi, Goffman’ın dramaturjik etkileşim kuramı, Bourdieu’nun sembolik sermaye yaklaşımı ve Han’ın şeffaflık toplumu kavramsallaştırması temel kuramsal dayanakları oluşturmaktadır. Bulgular, duygusal denetimin içsel öz-disiplinden dışsal görünürlük zorunluluğuna doğru kaydığını ve dijital çağda utanç ile itibarın yeni bir “görünürlük ekonomisi” nin iki tamamlayıcı duygusu hâline geldiğini göstermektedir. Analiz, bu dönüşümün altı temel önerme (P1–P6) etrafında örgütlenen bir duygusal iktidar modeli ürettiğini ortaya koymaktadır: içselleştirilmiş utançtan dışsallaştırılmış itibara geçiş; performansın makro meşruiyete dönüşmesi, ahlâkın metrikleşmesi; utanç-itibar döngüsünün karşılıklı üretimi; itibarın ekonomik bir sermayeye dönüşmesi ve sürekli görünürlük baskısının yarattığı duygusal yorgunluk. Bu süreç, sosyal kredi sistemleri, dijital linç pratikleri ve algoritmik görünmezlik gibi güncel uygulamalarda somutlaşmaktadır. Sonuç olarak çalışma, iktidarın modern biçimlerinin giderek duyguları ve tanınma arzusunu yöneterek işlediğini göstermektedir. Böylece toplumsal kontrol cezalandırıcı bakıştan ödüllendirici tanınmaya kaymakta; birey artık “utanmamak” için değil “tanınmak” için uyum göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Utanç
• itibar
• toplumsal kontrol
• duygular sosyolojisi.

The politics of emotion: shame, reputation, and control in the digital age

Abstract

This article examines the transformation from shame to reputation within the invisible emotional architecture of social order. While individuals in classical societies internalized normative order through shame, in late-modern and digital societies social control has shifted toward an externalized logic of visibility and performance structured around reputation. Employing an integrative literature review and conceptual synthesis method, the study offers a multilayered analysis of the role of emotions in the reproduction of social order. Foucault’s analysis of disciplinary power, Goffman’s dramaturgical interaction theory, Bourdieu’s conception of symbolic capital, and Han’s theorization of the transparency society constitute the core theoretical foundations of the study. The findings reveal a shift in emotional regulation from internal self-discipline toward an external imperative of visibility, showing that shame and reputation have become two complementary emotions within a new “economy of visibility” in the digital age. The analysis demonstrates that this transformation gives rise to an emotional power model organized around six propositions (P1–P6): the transition from internalized shame to externalized reputation; the translation of micro-performances into macro-level legitimacy; the metricization of moral judgment; the reciprocal production of shame and reputation; the economization of reputation; and the emergence of emotional fatigue driven by constant visibility pressures. This process materializes in contemporary practices such as social credit systems, digital shaming, and algorithmic invisibility. Overall, the study shows that modern forms of power increasingly operate by governing emotions and the desire for recognition. Consequently, social control shifts from punitive observation to rewarding visibility: the individual now conforms not to “avoid shame,” but to “be recognized.”

Keywords

• Shame
• reputation
• social control
• sociology of emotions

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