This course will investigate conceptualizations of life and death, power and subjectivity, individual and population through scholarly work on ‘biopolitics’ A core social science framework for examining how contemporary life is defined and governed, biopolitics has shaped opportunities for health, experiences of disease, access to medicine, and capacities for care. In this course, we will read Michel Foucault’s theory of biopolitics, as well as texts by key commentators. We will also cover contemporary issues where scholars have studied biopolitics on the ground: the opioid epidemic, reproductive science, aging and neuroscience, public health surveillance, and human‐animal relations. The course is designed around weekly reading assignments and reflection papers, as well as a case study project.
Ali Kenner, "SCTS 615: The Biopolitics of Health", contributed by Ali Kenner and Eliza Nobles, STS Infrastructures, Platform for Experimental Collaborative Ethnography, last modified 27 August 2018, accessed 27 December 2024. https://stsinfrastructures.org/content/scts-615-biopolitics-health
Critical Commentary
This course will investigate conceptualizations of life and death, power and subjectivity, individual and population through scholarly work on ‘biopolitics’ A core social science framework for examining how contemporary life is defined and governed, biopolitics has shaped opportunities for health, experiences of disease, access to medicine, and capacities for care. In this course, we will read Michel Foucault’s theory of biopolitics, as well as texts by key commentators. We will also cover contemporary issues where scholars have studied biopolitics on the ground: the opioid epidemic, reproductive science, aging and neuroscience, public health surveillance, and human‐animal relations. The course is designed around weekly reading assignments and reflection papers, as well as a case study project.