Government of Life

Miguel Vatter is Professor of Political Science at the University of New South Wales, Australia. He is the editor of Crediting God: Religion and Sovereignty in the Age of Global Capitalism (New York, 2010) and author of The Republic of the Living: Affirmative Biopolitics and Civil Society (New York, 2014). He is a founding member of the biopolitics research network BioPolitica.cl.

"The Government of Life does not simply analyze Foucault's ideas about governmentality. It reconsiders Foucault's thought from the standpoint of recent developments in continental and especially Italian philosophy with philosophers such as Giorgio Agamben, Roberto Esposito, and Toni Negri." -- -Michael Behrent Appalachian State University "We are facing an explosion of research on biopolitical questions today, and this volume certainly represents a welcome addition to this growing literature." -Nicolae Morar, Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews "Over the last twenty years, few concepts have been more investigated and used than the one of "biopolitics". However, only rarely has it been attempted to compare these uses in their variety and in their contradiction. This volume has the merit of offering a subtle and rich, complete and articulate view on what "biopolitics" means today, and in this way contributes to establish a political grammar for the start of this century." -- -Antonio Negri "An extraordinarily incisive and comprehensive collection of essays by an internationally distinguished list of contributors, Foucault, Biopolitics and Neoliberalism brilliantly discloses how Foucault's thinking continues to challenge and provoke 30 years after his death. No memorializing of Foucault, these essays think with and against his work in a spirit of critical engagement which could provide no better tribute to him." -- -Michael Dillon Professor Emeritus, Lancaster University "The Government of Life reminds us of how prescient Foucault was. We have so few guides in our present age of unbridled neoliberalism and biopolitics; Foucault was one of the few who saw what was coming. The authors in this volume richly plumb Foucault's work in order to make sense of our predicament, to recuperate from the maw of biopolitics a more affirmative way of life. These authors speak to one another and to Foucault through a focus on common texts. In doing so they engage in critical questions about sovereignty, bodies and human life that make for essential reading for anyone interested in the underlying fabric of our time and our politics." -- -James Martel San Francisco State University

• List of Abbreviations Introduction Vanessa Lemm and Miguel Vatter Part I. The Nomos of Neoliberalism 1. The Fourth Age of Security Frederic Gros 2. The Law of the Household: Foucault, Neoliberalism and the Iranian Revolution Melinda Cooper 3. The Risks of Security: Liberalism, Biopolitics and Fear Thomas Lemke Part II. Genealogies of Biopolitics 4. A Genealogy of Biopolitics: The Notion of Life in Canguilhem and Foucault Maria Muhle 5. Power over Life, Politics of Death: Forms of Resistance to Biopower in Foucault Francesco Paolo Adorno 6. Identity, Nature, Life: Three Biopolitical Deconstructions Judith Revel Part III. Liberalism between Legality and Governmentality 7. From Reason of State to Liberalism: The Coup d'Etat as Form of Government Roberto Nigro 8. Foucault and Rawls: Government and Public Reason Paul Patton 9. Foucault and Hayek: Republican Law and Liberal Civil Society Miguel Vatter Part IV. Philosophy as Ethics and as Embodiment 10. Parrhesia Between East and West: Foucault and Dissidence Simona Forti 11. The Embodiment of Truth and the Politics of Community: Foucault and the Cynics Vanessa Lemm Notes Bibliography List of Contributors Index