Sentence:  In order to grant the rich these pleasures, the social contract is reconfigured. [...]  The public realm is privatised, the regulations restraining the ultra&ndash;wealthy and the companies they <WSD>control</WSD> are abandoned, and Edwardian levels of inequality are almost fetishised. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  To exercise influence over; to suggest or dictate the behavior of.