Bioethics and Biopolitics: Theories, Applications and Connections (Advancing Global Bioethics Book 8)

"This volume links three different theoretical approaches that have a common focus on the relationship between biopolitics and bioethics. This collection of papers can be categorized into different domains that are representative of the contemporary usage of biopolitics as a concept. On the one hand, several chapters develop a clear and up-to-date understanding of the primary sources of the concept and related theories of Agamben, Negri or Foucault and approach the question of relevance within the field of bioethics. Another group of papers apply the philosophical concepts and theories of biopolitics (biopower, Homo Sacer, biocitizenship) on very specific currently debated bioethical issues. Some scholars rely on the more mundane understanding of (bio)politics and investigate how its relationship with bioethics could be philosophically conceptualized. Additionally, this work also contains papers that follow a more legally oriented analysis on the effects of contemporary biopolitics on human rights and European law. The authors are philosophers, legal scholars or bioethicists. The major strength of this volume is to provide the reader with major insights and orientation in these different contemporary usages of the concept and theories of biopolitics, within the context of its various ethically relevant applications"--Provided by publisher Contents 6 Introduction 7 Emerging Concepts of Biopolitics 9 Foucault’s Legacy 10 Applications: Contemporary Biopolitics and Bioethical Issues 11 Connections: Bioethics and Biopolitics 14 Bibliography 16 Part I: Concepts: Biopolitics and Biopower 17 Chapter 1: Biopolitics and Biopower: The Foucauldian Approach and Its Contemporary Relevance 18 1.1 On the Fortunes of the Concept of Biopolitics 18 1.2 Foucault and Biopolitics 21 1.3 Using Foucault in Understanding Current Biopolitics 24 1.4 Body 25 1.5 Power 26 1.6 Knowledge 28 1.7 Concluding Remarks 29 References 29 Part II: Applications: Contemporary Biopolitics and Bioethical Issues 31 Chapter 2: From Biopower to Empower – How to Get Plump, or Why Do We Choose What We Choose? 32 2.1 Introduction 33 2.2 Three Kinds of Power Relationships 33 2.3 Fit and Healthy 36 2.4 From Paternalism to Empowerment 37 2.5 Choice and Circumstances 40 2.6 Conclusions 41 References 42 Chapter 3: Biological or Democratic Citizenship 44 3.1 A Case From Iceland 44 3.2 Critique of the Campaign 45 3.3 The Perspective of Biological Citizenship 48 3.4 The Perspective of Deliberative Democratic Theory 53 3.5 The Icelandic Case Revisited 55 3.6 Conclusion 57 References 58 Chapter 4: Chronic Disorders of Consciousness and Homo Sacer 59 4.1 Chronic Disorders of Consciousness 60 4.2 Homo Sacer 60 4.3 Overcoma 64 4.4 The Muselmann 66 References 70 Chapter 5: Biopolitics and the Longevity of Left-Handers 71 5.1 Introduction 71 5.2 Pre-scientific Conceptions of Left-Handedness 73 5.3 The Scientific Study of Left-Handers 75 5.4 Do Left-Handers Die on Average Younger than Right-Handers? 80 5.5 Conclusion 86 References 87 Chapter 6: The “Me Molecule” 89 6.1 Introduction 90 6.2 Things, Persons or Particular Subjects to Biotechnology Law? 91 6.3 Can Researchers and Biotechnological Companies Gain Profit on Human Cells, Tissues, DNA? 92 6.4 Molecularization and Patentability 94 6.5 What Is the Role of Human Rights in Molecularization? 96 6.6 The Role of the Human Genome Project in the Process of Molecularization 96 6.7 Molecularization of the Self 97 6.8 Identification of Sperm Donors 98 6.9 Mithocondrium as the ‘Second Mother’ 99 6.10 Surrogacy 100 6.11 Conclusions 101 References 102 Legal Cases 103 Part III: Connections: Bioethics and Biopolitics 104 Chapter 7: Can Boethics Escape from Biopolitics? 105 7.1 Introduction 106 7.2 Denying Biopolitics 107 7.3 Mainstream Bioethics 108 7.4 Global Bioethics 109 7.5 Scrutinizing the Context of Bioethical Problems 110 7.6 Global Bioethics 111 7.7 Broader Moral Discourse 112 7.8 Enlarged Repertoire of Practices 112 7.9 Global Bioethics and Biopolitics 113 7.10 Dealing with Biopolitics 115 7.11 Conclusion 116 References 116 Chapter 8: Bioethics as Politics 118 8.1 Bioethics Literature 119 8.2 Ethical Analyses in Bioethics 119 8.3 Argumentative Strategies 121 8.4 The Problem of Interdisciplinarity 123 8.5 The Rightful Scope of Normative Claims 124 References 125 Chapter 9: On the Relationship Between Bioethics and Biopolitics: What Bioethics Can Learn from Biopolitics 127 9.1 Introduction 128 9.2 Bioethics: Retrospective 130 9.3 Bioethics: Looking to the Future 131 9.4 A More Expansive Notion of Bioethics 132 9.5 What Should We Do? 133 9.6 Biopolitics 135 9.7 Critical Biopolitics 136 9.8 Foucault: Radical Sociology of Knowledge and Subjectivity 138 9.9 Lemke: Biopolitics as ‘Bioanalytics’ 140 9.10 Power and Subjectivity 141 9.11 Conclusion 141 References 142 Annotation This volume links three different theoretical approaches that have a common focus on the relationship between biopolitics and bioethics. This collection of papers can be categorized into different domains that are representative of the contemporary usage of biopolitics as a concept. On the one hand, several chapters develop a clear and up-to-date understanding of the primary sources of the concept and related theories of Agamben, Negri or Foucault and approach the question of relevance within the field of bioethics. Another group of papers apply the philosophical concepts and theories of biopolitics (biopower, Homo Sacer, biocitizenship) on very specific currently debated bioethical issues. Some scholars rely on the more mundane understanding of (bio)politics and investigate how its relationship with bioethics could be philosophically conceptualized. Additionally, this work also contains papers that follow a more legally oriented analysis on the effects of contemporary biopolitics on human rights and European law. The authors are philosophers, legal scholars or bioethicists. The major strength of this volume is to provide the reader with major insights and orientation in these different contemporary usages of the concept and theories of biopolitics, within the context of its various ethically relevant applications Front Matter ....Pages i-xvi Front Matter ....Pages 1-1 Biopolitics and Biopower: The Foucauldian Approach and Its Contemporary Relevance (Ádám Takács)....Pages 3-15 Front Matter ....Pages 17-17 From Biopower to Empower – How to Get Plump, or Why Do We Choose What We Choose? (Ignaas Devisch)....Pages 19-30 Biological or Democratic Citizenship (Vilhjálmur Árnason)....Pages 31-45 Chronic Disorders of Consciousness and Homo Sacer (Andrew Edgar)....Pages 47-58 Biopolitics and the Longevity of Left-Handers (Gardar Arnason)....Pages 59-76 The “Me Molecule” (Judit Sándor)....Pages 77-91 Front Matter ....Pages 93-93 Can Boethics Escape from Biopolitics? (Henk ten Have)....Pages 95-107 Bioethics as Politics (Tuija Takala)....Pages 109-117 On the Relationship Between Bioethics and Biopolitics: What Bioethics Can Learn from Biopolitics (Darryl Gunson)....Pages 119-135