Biopolitics and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Foucauldian Interpretation of the Danish Government’s Response to the Pandemic
With the coronavirus pandemic and the Omicron variant once again forcing countries into lockdown (as of late 2021), this essay seeks to outline a Foucauldian critique of various legal measures taken by the Danish government to cope with COVID-19 during the first year and a half of the pandemic. The...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-03-01
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| Series: | Philosophies |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/7/2/34 |
| _version_ | 1797225881104547840 |
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| author | Philip Højme |
| author_facet | Philip Højme |
| author_sort | Philip Højme |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | With the coronavirus pandemic and the Omicron variant once again forcing countries into lockdown (as of late 2021), this essay seeks to outline a Foucauldian critique of various legal measures taken by the Danish government to cope with COVID-19 during the first year and a half of the pandemic. The essay takes a critical look at the extra-legal measures employed by the Danish government, as the Danish politicians attempted to halt the spread of the, now almost forgotten, Cluster 5 COVID-19 variant. This situation will serve as a critical point from where to start using Foucault’s writings on life and biopolitics in order to expose various legally problematic governmental decisions that became visible during the handling of COVID-19 in general and the Cluster 5 mutation in particular. Reframing the pandemic within Foucault’s concept of biopolitics, this essay concludes that the state of exception has led to an increase in biopolitical logic, where some lives have come to matter more than others. As a critical counterpoint to this logic, the conclusion suggests that the notion of biocommunism could provide a suitable reconfiguration of communism. A reconfiguration that could mitigate some of the issues related to biopolitics is uncovered earlier in the essay. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-09T13:08:33Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-4de7e43996ef416a95d1c2de02c5da9c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2409-9287 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-24T14:16:03Z |
| publishDate | 2022-03-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Philosophies |
| spelling | doaj.art-4de7e43996ef416a95d1c2de02c5da9c2024-04-03T08:26:31ZengMDPI AGPhilosophies2409-92872022-03-01723410.3390/philosophies7020034Biopolitics and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Foucauldian Interpretation of the Danish Government’s Response to the PandemicPhilip Højme0The Graduate School for Social Research, Institute for Philosophy and Sociology, Polish Academy of Sciences, 00-330 Warsaw, PolandWith the coronavirus pandemic and the Omicron variant once again forcing countries into lockdown (as of late 2021), this essay seeks to outline a Foucauldian critique of various legal measures taken by the Danish government to cope with COVID-19 during the first year and a half of the pandemic. The essay takes a critical look at the extra-legal measures employed by the Danish government, as the Danish politicians attempted to halt the spread of the, now almost forgotten, Cluster 5 COVID-19 variant. This situation will serve as a critical point from where to start using Foucault’s writings on life and biopolitics in order to expose various legally problematic governmental decisions that became visible during the handling of COVID-19 in general and the Cluster 5 mutation in particular. Reframing the pandemic within Foucault’s concept of biopolitics, this essay concludes that the state of exception has led to an increase in biopolitical logic, where some lives have come to matter more than others. As a critical counterpoint to this logic, the conclusion suggests that the notion of biocommunism could provide a suitable reconfiguration of communism. A reconfiguration that could mitigate some of the issues related to biopolitics is uncovered earlier in the essay.https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/7/2/34G. AgambenJ. ButlerbiopoliticsbiocommunismCOVAXCOVID-19 |
| spellingShingle | Philip Højme Biopolitics and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Foucauldian Interpretation of the Danish Government’s Response to the Pandemic Philosophies G. Agamben J. Butler biopolitics biocommunism COVAX COVID-19 |
| title | Biopolitics and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Foucauldian Interpretation of the Danish Government’s Response to the Pandemic |
| title_full | Biopolitics and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Foucauldian Interpretation of the Danish Government’s Response to the Pandemic |
| title_fullStr | Biopolitics and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Foucauldian Interpretation of the Danish Government’s Response to the Pandemic |
| title_full_unstemmed | Biopolitics and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Foucauldian Interpretation of the Danish Government’s Response to the Pandemic |
| title_short | Biopolitics and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Foucauldian Interpretation of the Danish Government’s Response to the Pandemic |
| title_sort | biopolitics and the covid 19 pandemic a foucauldian interpretation of the danish government s response to the pandemic |
| topic | G. Agamben J. Butler biopolitics biocommunism COVAX COVID-19 |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2409-9287/7/2/34 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT philiphøjme biopoliticsandthecovid19pandemicafoucauldianinterpretationofthedanishgovernmentsresponsetothepandemic |