Sunday, 4 May 2025

Agamben, in his seminal work Homo Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life, draws on the ancient Greek distinction between bios (qualified life, the life of a citizen) and zoē (bare life, mere biological existence). He argues that the modern political project is characterized by a reduction of citizens to this "bare life," a state where their existence is increasingly governed and potentially disposed of by sovereign power.

Here are some key aspects of this idea:

The State of Exception: Agamben argues that what were once considered exceptional measures (like states of emergency) are becoming increasingly normalized. In these states, the lines between law and its suspension blur, and individuals can be stripped of their rights and reduced to bare life.

Biopower: Foucault, a key influence on Agamben, explored how power operates not just through top-down repression but also through subtle mechanisms that regulate bodies and populations – what he termed "biopower." This includes things like public health initiatives, census taking, and the management of sexuality.

The Politicization of Biology: The increasing focus on bare life means that biological factors – health, genetics, behavior – become sites of political intervention and control. Decisions about who lives, who dies, and what constitutes a "good" life become increasingly political.

Vulnerability: When life is reduced to its biological dimension and subjected to political control, it inherently becomes more vulnerable. Individuals in a state of "bare life" lack the protections and recognition afforded to those living a politically qualified life.

Gemini

No comments:

The story goes: beyond the Planck length, where measurement fails and space unspools into myth, He waits. Not a man, not snow, but a residu...