Workshop: Biopolitics
- https://www.uni-giessen.de/en/faculties/ggkgcsc/events/semester-overview/previous/archive/Winter%20Term%202016%2017/extra-courses/IPP%20Workshop%20Series%20II
- Workshop: Biopolitics
- 2016-11-30T14:00:00+01:00
- 2016-11-30T16:00:00+01:00
Nov 30, 2016 from 02:00 to 04:00 (Europe/Berlin / UTC100)
Phil I, GCSC, R.001
Biopolitics. Conceptual Challenges and Theoretical Appropriations (Robert Winkler)
The focus of this workshop is on the concept of 'Bio-Politics'. This concept originated in the work of Michel Foucault and has recently entered both academic and popular discourses. While in the realm of the latter, 'Bio-Politics' is often (mis-)used as neutral term to describe developments in medicine and biotechnology, even academic applications of this conceptual strain of Foucault’s work often remain vague and out of context.
Correspondingly, the aim of this workshop is twofold: On the one hand, it establishes a critical perspective on general patterns of bio-political discourses by revisiting some foundational texts related to this concept (e. g. Foucault, Agamben) and by discussing them in the classroom. Special focus will be given to the matrix of 'Bio-Politics' and the Body as well as 'Bio-Politics' and Racism. Secondly, the workshop thereby seeks to evaluate the strengths and limits of applying this concept to the study of culture by discussing case studies of and material put forward by the students.
Texts:
- Foucault, Michel. Society Must Be Defended. Lectures at the Collège de France 1975-1976. Gordonsville, VA: Picador, 2003.
- Foucault, Michel. Security, Territory, Population: Lectures at the Collège de France 1977-1978. Gordonsville, VA: Picador, 2009.
- Lemke, Thomas. Biopolitik. Zur Einführung. Hamburg: Junius, 2007.