Challenges of Biopolitics Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic

DOI

10.2991/assehr.k.201105.072How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Biopolitics, covid pandemic, state policy, anti-epidemic measures

Abstract

The complex of social, political and economic challenges generated by the coronavirus pandemic is a reference example of the practical realization of the concept of biopolitics proposed by M. Foucault. The actual type of biopolitical paradigm dictated by the pandemic is understood as the implementation of bio-power by the state thus increasing its presence in all aspects and spheres of society to ensure the biological security of citizens. Modern biopolitics is a combination of forms of social control and state strategies aimed to ensure the survival (biosecurity) and to preserve and develop key social institutions. The key feature of the implemented state biopolitics is the inversion and variability of the strategic discourse. The degree and direction of economic and social damage directly depend on the industry structure of the economy and of the employment structure on small and medium-sized businesses. Biopolitics measures as a set of legal regimes to counter the ongoing COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, which regulate all spheres of society, should, among other things, provide for their gradual activation when certain disease thresholds are reached. A critical condition for a successful state strategy to counteract the pandemic is the balance of the state’s anti-epidemic measures. While proclaiming the main priority of biopolitics to preserve the health of the population and ensure maximum survival of victims, the state also faces the need to protect the processes of economic production and exchange.

Copyright

© 2020, the Authors. Published by Atlantis Press.

Open Access

This is an open access article distributed under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Download article (PDF)

TY  - CONF
AU  - A.S. Deyev
AU  - A.A. Khvoshchin
AU  - S.I. Chernomorchenko
PY  - 2020
DA  - 2020/11/06
TI  - Challenges of Biopolitics Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic
BT  - Proceedings of the Research Technologies of Pandemic Coronavirus Impact (RTCOV 2020)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 401
EP  - 407
SN  - 2352-5398
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/assehr.k.201105.072
DO  - 10.2991/assehr.k.201105.072
ID  - Deyev2020
ER  -