The birth of biopolitics

About “The birth of biopolitics”

Michel Foucault's 1979 lectures at the College de France, The Birth of Biopolitics, continue the themes explored in his previous year's lectures, Security, Territory, Population. In this work, Foucault examines the emergence of liberal governmentality, focusing on how political economy shaped new forms of governance in the eighteenth century. He analyzes the rationality behind governing life and population, framing liberalism as the broader context of biopolitics. The lectures also explore the development of twentieth-century neoliberalism, particularly the German ordoliberalism and the Chicago School. Foucault investigates how economic theory and practice, including the concept of homo oeconomicus, influenced political and social policies. He highlights the complex role of "society" in liberal governance, showing that civil society is not opposed to the state but is instead a key element in the mechanisms of liberal government. The lectures raise important questions about the nature and evolution of neoliberalism in political and social thought.