Biopolitics and Ancient Thought

The volume explores the relationship between ancient thought and biopolitics, examining the concepts of biopolitics and biopower as tools for understanding the differences and continuities between antiquity and modernity. It evaluates the relevance of ancient thought for biopolitics and the relevance of biopolitical theory for the study of ancient thought.

Format: Hardback
Length: 240 pages
Publication date: 12 April 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press

The study of the relationship between ancient thought and biopolitics, which encompasses theories, discourses, and practices where the biological life of human populations becomes the central focus of political governance, is explored from various perspectives in the volume. This exploration not only continues but also extends the critical examination of Michel Foucault's assertion regarding the fundamentally modern nature of biopolitics. The nine contributions included in the volume employ the concepts of biopolitics and biopower as conceptual tools to articulate the distinctions and continuities between antiquity and modernity, as well as to narrate Western intellectual and political history in general. While avoiding any specific thesis or approach, the volume assesses the relevance of ancient thought for the concept and theory of biopolitics, as well as the relevance of biopolitical theory and ideas for the study of ancient thought. The volume is structured into three main parts: part I examines instances of biopolitics in ancient thought; part II explores aspects of ancient thought that evade or transcend biopolitics; and part III discusses various modern interpretations of ancient thought within the framework of biopolitical theory.

The study of the relationship between ancient thought and biopolitics, which encompasses theories, discourses, and practices where the biological life of human populations becomes the central focus of political governance, is explored from various perspectives in the volume. This exploration not only continues but also extends the critical examination of Michel Foucault's assertion regarding the fundamentally modern nature of biopolitics. The nine contributions included in the volume employ the concepts of biopolitics and biopower as conceptual tools to articulate the distinctions and continuities between antiquity and modernity, as well as to narrate Western intellectual and political history in general. While avoiding any specific thesis or approach, the volume assesses the relevance of ancient thought for the concept and theory of biopolitics, as well as the relevance of biopolitical theory and ideas for the study of ancient thought. The volume is structured into three main parts: part I examines instances of biopolitics in ancient thought; part II explores aspects of ancient thought that evade or transcend biopolitics; and part III discusses various modern interpretations of ancient thought within the framework of biopolitical theory.

Weight: 484g
Dimension: 239 x 162 x 18 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192847102