Michel Foucault coined the term biopower to describe how states exercise control over their citizens. This is achieved through statistics, probabilities, and eugenics. Biopower can be used for the good of the state, but it can also justify extreme actions such as genocide. Foucault’s theories should not be taken literally and are complex.
French philosopher Michel Foucault first used the term biopower to describe a way in which a state can exercise total control over its constituents. His work on this subject in the 20th century has been described as post-structuralist or deconstructionist in nature. In addition to his formulation of the theory of biopower, Foucault became an interesting critic of his literature and time, although his texts are very difficult reading for the beginning student of post-structuralism.
Biopower, Foucault argued, was capitalist states’ way of exercising control over people to better promote life. The main means of control were statistics and probabilities. States, i.e. countries, have been analyzing the likely responses to government actions and the ways in which people could most likely be controlled and directed in all aspects of life. Even in a democratic state, this marriage of the social sciences with the political sciences results in a high degree of control over a population, as Foucault argues.
Power like that suggested in biopower is used for the good of the state to protect the life of its people. Things like medical care management could be part of a state that employs biopower governance techniques. However, Foucault goes further, suggesting that the best control can be achieved through eugenics. Eugenics is the theory filled with racism and classism, where humans apply the concepts of natural selection for the benefit of the human race. Then those with traits undesirable to society are selected for, preventing those with poor backgrounds or significant health problems from reproducing.
Theories of eugenics, especially when we are so close to cloning and other forms of genetic engineering, frighten quite a few people. Writers and philosophers have deplored the concept of scientific selection for reproduction for many decades, and perhaps the best recent critique of this form of reproduction has been the film, Gattaca. The most classic criticism of eugenics is the novel 1984.
In addition to using population control through selective breeding, state protection to maintain power is an essential part of biopower. This includes the destruction of anything threatening to the state and justifies any action taken by the state.
An example of this type of biopower can be seen in the current relations of the United States with several Arab nations. Some argue that the best course of action would be to destroy all Arab nations and thus rid the world of terrorism. This is biopower in its ugliest and most extreme form, and it is justifiable according to Foucault’s concepts. Such an exercise has been seen before in history in the mass extermination of Jews during World War II and the more recent mass genocides in Sudan.
Those who commit such genocide believe they are acting for the good of the state. However, most believe that the ultimate good of the state is to have working and cooperative relationships with all nations. Biopower would not support such a theory, as selective breeding would be more difficult to control under conditions that allow for diversity.
In Foucault’s view, biopower is the natural tendency to distance oneself from the sovereign states they govern by threatening opponents or those who do not obey the law with death. However, we see both biopower and “death threat” power in most countries, regardless of their political structure.
That Foucault identifies and names biopower should not be taken as an endorsement of behaviors associated with it. This is an observational philosophy and does not necessarily represent personal opinions. Post-structuralist theory has sometimes been labeled fascist, and it’s hard not to get angry at the thought of biopower being used as a justification for genocide.
However, the post-structuralist’s goal is to force individuals out of their comfort zones and create a multiplicity of meanings. Such theorists often wish to cause controversy, as they believe this will result in actual thinking about how the world works and is viewed. Foucault’s theories of biopower should not be taken literally, as they are extremely complex.
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