Lecture 9 - neoliberalism

Question 1

Biopolitics

Answer 1

involves controlling aspects of human life such as health policies, reproduction, and surveillance. This shift means that power is no longer just about disciplining individuals but about regulating entire populations to ensure their well-being and efficiency.

Question 2

thanatopolitics

Answer 2

Thanatopolitics, often contrasted with biopolitics, refers to the politics of death rather than the politics of life. Michel Foucault sometimes used the term to describe how sovereign power operates through mechanisms that decide who lives and who dies. While biopolitics focuses on optimizing life, health, and productivity, thanatopolitics is concerned with exclusion, abandonment, and the management of death.

Question 3

Biopolitical norms

Answer 3

Focus on population management, shaping life through policies and regulations. Statistically derived rather than pre-established. Norms are imposed indirectly.

Question 4

Disciplinary norms

Answer 4

Focus on individual correction through surveillance and punishment.

Question 5

Governmentality

Answer 5

Refers to the “art of government”—the ways in which power operates to shape behavior, self-regulation, and social norms. It extends beyond state politics to include institutions, economic systems, and even personal conduct, influencing how individuals govern themselves within society. Examples: GDP, inflation, unemployment numbers.

Question 6

Neoliberalism

Answer 6

Michel Foucault analyzed neoliberalism as a political rationality that reshapes democracy, governance, and citizenship, making economic logic dominant in all spheres of life. Unlike classical liberalism, which sought to limit state power, neoliberalism actively uses the state to enforce market competition.

It is a specific form of economic
governmentality that increases the
economic productivity of the population
by imposing competition and
encouraging individuals to conduct
themselves as entrepreneurs of their
own human capital.

Question 7

2 principles of neoliberalism

Answer 7

1. Competition: government must impose competition in order to guarantee efficiency.
2. Entrepreneurship: individuals as entrepreneurs of their own lives.

Question 8

human capital theory

Answer 8

This theory views individuals as self-investing economic units, where education, skills, and personal development are forms of capital that can yield future economic returns.
Michel Foucault analyzed this shift in his Birth of Biopolitics lectures, arguing that neoliberalism transforms individuals into self-managed enterprises, replacing traditional labor with human capital

Question 9

Democratic deficit

Answer 9

A democratic deficit happens when political systems don’t fully uphold democratic values, such as transparency, accountability, and citizen participation. It often refers to governments or institutions—like the EU—that seem disconnected from the people they govern.
The democratic deficit in neoliberalism means that market-driven policies reduce democratic control, shifting power from elected officials to corporations and financial elites, limiting public influence over key decisions.

Question 10

Example of democratic deficit

Answer 10

Austerity refers to economic policies aimed at reducing government budget deficits through spending cuts, tax increases, or both. Spain introduced austerity measures such as tax increases and spending cuts, including heavy taxes on tobacco consumption.

Question 11

Curtailing democracy

Answer 11

Curtailing democracy refers to actions that limit democratic freedoms, weaken institutions, or reduce citizen participation in governance.