Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
This edited volume draws on the work of theorists who have used biopower as a frame of reference for their analyses in order to examine the ruinous consequences that often result from the (de)regulation of subjects through technologies of power. The volume assesses four broad biopolitical problematics.
The first section, "The Crisis Economy," focuses on the inherent production of disaster and the crisis tendency of capitalism. In other words, the volume will begin with the political economy of disaster. The second section, "Governmentalities of Disaster," expands upon the first section and addresses material and discursive questions of governance, the role of the state, as well as questions of democracy and rationality. Third, the volume considers how and where the (de)valuation of life itself takes shape within the theme of "(Post)Colonial Geopolitics," and focuses on the corporeal effects of biopolitical disaster. It interrogates how the problematic of colonialism persistently writes itself upon the social location and lived-experience of select communities. The final thematic section, "Eco-Aesthetic Practices of Resistance," fuses concepts from affect theory, feminist studies, post-positivism, and contemporary political theory to identify sites and practices of political resistance to biopower.
Biopolitical Disaster is aimed at postgraduates, researchers, and academic scholars working in the following fields: Environmental Justice; Political ecology; Geopolitics; Foucauldian analysis; Feminist critique; Intersectionality; Environmental politics; Science and Technology in Society studies; Disaster studies; Political theory; Indigenous studies; Aesthetics and resistance.
Synopsis
Biopolitical Disaster employs a grounded analysis of the production and lived-experience of biopolitical life in order to illustrate how disaster production and response are intimately interconnected. The book is organized into four sections, each revealing how socio-environmental consequences of instrumentalist environmentalities produce disastrous settings and political experiences that are evident in our contemporary world.
Beginning with a section on "Commodifying Crisis," the volume focuses on the inherent production of disaster that is bound to the crisis tendency of capitalism. The second section, "Governmentalities of Disaster," addresses material and discursive questions of governance, the role of the state, as well as questions of democracy. In this section, we examine the linkage between problematic environmental rationalities and policies. Third, the volume considers how and where the (de)valuation of life itself takes shape within the theme of "Affected Bodies," and looks at the corporeal impacts of disastrous biopolitics. The final section, "Environmental Aesthetics and Resistance," fuses concepts from affect theory, feminist studies, post-positivism, and contemporary political theory to identify sites and practices of political resistance to biopower.
Biopolitical Disaster will be of great interest to postgraduates, researchers, and academic scholars working in Political ecology; Geopolitics; Feminist critique; Intersectionality; Environmental politics; Science and Technology studies; Disaster studies; Political theory; Indigenous studies; Aesthetics and resistance.