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Democratic BiopoliticsPopular Sovereignty and the Power of Life

By Sergei Prozorov

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£115.00

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About this book

Develops the first positive synthesis of democracy and biopolitics

Contemporary studies of biopolitics assume that the rise of biopolitical governance entails the eclipse of democracy. The abstract egalitarianism of democratic government appears to be incompatible with the concrete, particularist and individualising operations of biopower. Sergei Prozorov challenges the assumption that the biopolitical governance means the end of democracy, arguing for a positive synthesis of biopolitics and democracy. He develops a vision of democratic biopolitics where diverse forms of life can coexist on the basis of their reciprocal recognition as free, equal and in common. He demonstrates how this vision can be realised and sustained by using examples of our lived experience.

Key Features
  • Critically re-engages with the canonical theories of biopolitics from Foucault, Agamben and Esposito
  • Introduces new philosophical voices into the discussion of biopolitics: Nancy, Badiou and Lefort
  • Explicates the historical background of the contemporary critique of biopolitics
  • Interprets the current crisis of liberal democracy through a biopolitical lens, and suggests possibilities for overcoming it
Table of contents

Prologue: Towards an Experimental Analytics of GovernmentBiopolitics and the Eclipse of DemocracyAffirmative BiopoliticsA Note on MethodOutline of the Argument

Part 1: Rousseau and the Critique of Biopolitics

1. Rousseau’s AporiaThe Divided DemosSubtraction: The Constitution of the SovereignEmanation: The Constitution of GovernmentPolitics: the Existence of the PeopleGovernment over KingdomIndividual as Universe

2. The Community of Solitary Walkers

The Free Subject of ReverieThe Universal and the SingularRousseau and Radical DemocracyRousseau’s Ambivalent LegacyDemocracy as the Experience of the Generic

Part II: Freeform Life

3. Biopower and the Politics of Contingency

Towards a Democratic BiopoliticsBiopower in the VoidThe Scandal of ContingencyFreedom, Equality, Community

4. Is There a Democratic Form of Life?

The Disappointments of the Faithful DemocratDemocracy of the IncommensurableDemocratic Mannerism　

5. Demos Distracted

Between Captivation and BoredomThe Importance of Getting Carried AwayThe UnborablePhish

6. How to Enjoy Democracy Again (and Again)

The Malaise of DemocracyThe Pleasure of FormationDemocratic Biopolitics in the Age of Post-Truth

Epilogue: Why Democracy is Good for Life

About the author

Sergei Prozorov

Sergei Prozorov is Professor of Political Science at the University of Jyväskylä. He is the author of books including The Biopolitics of Stalinism (2016) and Agamben and Politics (2014), also published by Edinburgh University Press. He has published over 30 articles in major international journals. His research interests include political philosophy, theories of democracy and totalitarianism, biopolitics and governance.