Biopolitical studies and research of biopolitics

Abstract

Within the academic environment, we find the using of the term of biopolitics difficult because of its rather ambiguous definition. As a result, we can see either its naturalistic interpretations in which biopolitics is the application of life sciences (ethology, physio­logy, genetics, sociobiology, cybernetics, bioelementology, etc.) in modern politics, or definitions derived from Michel Foucault’s “biopower”, where biopolitics is a term that refers to techniques of managing all aspects of human life. In the one case, starting from biological knowledge, we come to a mosaic set of studies and techniques aimed directly or indirectly at the political process, the regulation of a political community. In the other case, we have got a historical and philosophical analysis of the development of tech­niques that allow for the control of entire populations in modern Western societies. This study proposed an approach to biopolitical issues in order to distinguish biopolitics, biopolitical research, and explorations in biopolitics. Such way of considering can improve the understanding of how different views interact with each other in this area, and how they relate to the existing practice of managing population.