Revista EPOS
On-line version ISSN 2178-700X
Abstract
OLIVEIRA, Cristiane. Biopolitics, sovereignty and tanatopolitics: essay on the ideas of Foucault and Agamben. Rev. Epos [online]. 2016, vol.7, n.1, pp.5-27. ISSN 2178-700X.
This essay intends to confront some of the ideas of Giorgio Agamben and Michel Foucault with regard to the politicization of life in modernity. With this in mind, we analyze, initially, the modalities of political management of life proposed by Foucault – anatomical-political bodies and biopolitics of the population. Next, the relations between sovereignty and biopolitics proposed by these authors are discussed. Finally, the notion of bare life proposed by Giorgio Agamben is explored to couple sovereignty, established at present by the normalization of the state of exception, and biopolitics, which becomes tanatopolitics.
Keywords : biopower; Naked life; sovereignty; Modernity; tanatopolitics.