Biopower
Biopower refers to the practice of recent states and the management of their subjects through various techniques that attain the subjugations of bodies and authority over the entire population. According to Foucault, biopower is referred to as a technology of power that controls individuals as a large group. He further asserts that the major feature that distinguishes biopower from other political technology trends is that it enables the management of the whole population with minimized opposition. In most cases, biopower is portrayed through most government’s interest to foster the life of its citizen’s. Through biopolitics of its subjects, the government can produce a disciplinary society and regulatory controls (“From Biopower to Biopolitics by Maurizio Lazzarato”).
In his writing “The Will to Knowledge” Foucault refers biopower to the activities relating to public health, and control of heredity among other regulations that are less directly connected with the literal physical health of the population. In his work, Foucault tries to relate closely biopower to biopolitics although using the latter less frequently. He portrays how various regulatory techniques are used to achieve authority over a group of individuals (“From Biopower to Biopolitics by Maurizio Lazzarato”).
The technology of biopower is also exhibited in a technology fiction film known as the THX 1138. In the movie, portrays a dystopian future whereby the population is managed through android police personnel alongside compulsory drug use that subdues emotions like the forbidden sexual desire. Therefore, the regulatory depicted in the plot that prohibits sexual desire and the mandatory use of drugs that interferes with people’s mind to facilitate compliance among the residents is a clear description of biopower. To most rulers, biopower is good technology however to the larger society, biopower should be totally avoided as it violates the rights of individuals (“THX 1138 Movie Review & Film Summary (2004) | Roger Ebert”).
Works Cited
“From Biopower to Biopolitics by Maurizio Lazzarato.” Generation Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.
“THX 1138 Movie Review & Film Summary (2004) | Roger Ebert.” Movie Reviews and Ratings by Film Critic Roger Ebert | Roger Ebert. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Oct. 2015.