Biopolitics of COVID-19: Capitalist Continuities and Democratic Openings

Abstract

"Biopolitics" has become a popular concept for interpreting the COVID-19 pandemic, yet the term is often used vaguely, as a buzzword, and therefore loses its specificity and relevance. This article systematically explains what the biopolitical lens offers for analyzing and normatively criticizing the politics of the coronavirus. I argue that biopolitics are politics of differentiated vulnerability that are intrinsic to capitalist modernity. The situation resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic is, therefore, less of a state of exception than it might appear; COVID-19 is a continuation and intensification of the capitalist biopolitics of differentiated vulnerability. In order to critically evaluate this situation, the article proposes the concept of "democratic biopolitics" and shows how it can be used, among others, for a queer critique of the differentiated vulnerabilities that are produced by the coronavirus and its capitalist governance. In contrast to widespread interpretations of democratic biopolitics that focus on collective care in communities, this article highlights the role of the state and of the redistribution of political power and economic resources as key for biopolitical democratization.

Law and the political stakes of global crises: Lessons from development practice for a coronavirus world

“…Where "traditional biopolitics focus[es] on the repressive state," à la Agamben, "democratic biopolitics focus[es] on the emancipatory agency of activists and the community." To do so, "democratic biopolitics needs a commitment to the rule of law and must always reflect the proportionality of measures taken" (Schubert, 2020).…”

“…In response, others have offered an alternative theoretical account of law and the coronavirus crisis. Sotiris (2020) suggests that the pandemic reveals a “democratic biopolitics,” which Schubert (2020) elaborates as “collective care in a non‐coercive way in which practices like social‐distancing are deliberated democratically, thus not only based on ‘the authority of experts’ but on a ‘democratization of knowledges.’” Where “traditional biopolitics focus[es] on the repressive state,” à la Agamben, “democratic biopolitics focus[es] on the emancipatory agency of activists and the community.” To do so, “democratic biopolitics needs a commitment to the rule of law and must always reflect the proportionality of measures taken” (Schubert, 2020).…”

“…This account of politics enables us to analyze a range of constitutional and rule of law‐like claims about the COVID‐19 crisis. For example, it puts into relief the stakes of Schubert's (2020) effort to imagine a democratic biopolitics governed by the rule of law. Democratic biopolitics, in Schubert's account, “relies on a pluralist understanding of the political” (Schubert, 2022, p. 102).…”

“…For Lorenzini, the coronavirus crisis and administrative responses to it “reveal[] that our society structurally relies on the incessant production of differential vulnerability and social inequalities” (Lorenzini, 2021, S44). For Schubert, the biopolitics of the crisis is one “of differentiated vulnerability.” This vulnerability “stem[s] from the multiplicity of different social positions and their respective patterns of vulnerability” (Schubert, 2022, p. 102). I contribute here by suggesting that the political stakes of thinking about law in terms of policy and implementation might be found not only in how it has produced the politics of the crisis, but also in how it shapes the political power of society, and its relationship to the state, as they respond to the crisis (Section 3).…”

Bem Viver: repensando a criação de novos modos de vida na era pós-Covid-19

“…Inicialmente, a tomada de consciência pública sobre os seus riscos concentrou-se nos aspectos biológicos, epidemiológicos da doença (Aaltola, 2020). A consideração de suas implicações para a elaboração de novas políticas públicas de saúde e saneamento para os próximos anos tem sido objeto de um volume crescente de contribuições na comunidade científica internacional (Fung & Liu, 2019;Aaltola, 2020;Carbajosa & Bassets, 2020;Leff, 2020;Oliveira 2020;Ramonet, 2020;Reyes 2020;Santos 2020;Schubert, 2020;Ty, 2020;Vernimmen, 2020), dentre outros.…”