Technologically Assisted Life: Between Biopolitics and Thanatopolitics

The aim of this essay is to analyze the case of abortion law in Poland as a paradigmatic example of biopower. The historical genealogy of abortion legislation is my point of departure. I argue that within science, new visual technologies have a significant i...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Szczygielska, Marianna (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
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Published: [publisher not identified] 2011
In: Annali di studi religiosi
Year: 2011, Volume: 12, Pages: 71-85
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
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Summary:The aim of this essay is to analyze the case of abortion law in Poland as a paradigmatic example of biopower. The historical genealogy of abortion legislation is my point of departure. I argue that within science, new visual technologies have a significant impact on the way that social and national imaginaries of life and death are currently being constructed. I emphasize that new reproductive technologies function as optical machinery that allow the power-knowledge of the clinical gaze to shape our understanding of new kinship structures. Technologically assisted life is blurring the line between biopolitics and thanatopolitcs, because of its proximity to the modern biopolitical state and the capitalist system.
ISSN:2284-3892
Contains:Enthalten in: Annali di studi religiosi