Biopolitics and societies of control: examples from epidemiology and technocracy

Abstract

Biopolitics, in general terms and definitions, refers to mechanisms of control applied over entire populations, including the regulation of births and deaths, population reproduction and fertility, as well as the political application of bioethics and the socio-political consequences of the biotechnological revolution on both society and individual bodies. In this article, we examine biopolitics through two distinct social phenomena: the first is epidemiological, while the second can be described as a system of technocratic control. Both illustrate how biopolitical practices are implemented. The inadequate response of the US government to the first wave of AIDS in the 1980s can be interpreted from a biopolitical perspective, as an attempt to address an emerging public health crisis. Another example is the Chinese state social credit system, which is often associated with dictatorship and population control, regulating citizens' lifestyles, needs, and habits through collected data and algorithmic analysis. These phenomena demonstrate that the application of biopolitical methods, adapted to the technological capabilities of their time, enables states, official institutions, corporations, multinational companies, and other centers of power to pursue their interests - both economic, such as cost- saving and profit-making, and social, such as addressing the needs of marginalized groups.