Biopolitics is a concept popularized by the French philosopher Michel Foucault in the mid-20th century.[1] At its core, biopolitics explores how governmental power operates through the management and regulation of a population's bodies and lives.
This interdisciplinary field scrutinizes the mechanisms through which political authorities and institutions exercise control over populations which goes beyond conventional forms of governance.[2] This encompasses areas such as the regulation of health, reproduction, sexuality, and other aspects of biological existence.[3] The governmental power of biopolitics is exerted through practices such as surveillance, healthcare policies, population control measures, gender-based laws, and the implementation of biometric identification systems.
Foucault's thesis claims that contemporary power structures are increasingly preoccupied with the administration of life itself, rather than solely focusing on individual behaviors or actions.[4] Accordingly, biopolitics entails the governance of populations as biological entities, with an emphasis on optimizing their health, productivity, and reproductive capacities in manners conducive to broader political and economic objectives.[5] In its essence, biopolitics investigates how political power intersects with biological life, shaping the bodies, behaviors, and well-being of populations through diverse strategies and controls.
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