A3 Book section, Chapters in research books
Introduction (2022)

Backman, J., & Cimino, A. (2022). Introduction. In J. Backman, & A. Cimino (Eds.), Biopolitics and Ancient Thought (pp. 1-11). Oxford University Press. Classics in Theory. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192847102.003.0001

JYU authors or editors

Publication details

All authors or editors: Backman, Jussi; Cimino, Antonio

Parent publication: Biopolitics and Ancient Thought

Parent publication editors: Backman, Jussi; Cimino, Antonio

ISBN: 978-0-19-284710-2

eISBN: 978-0-19-266273-6

Journal or series: Classics in Theory

Publication year: 2022

Pages range: 1-11

Number of pages in the book: 240

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Place of Publication: Oxford

Publication country: United Kingdom

Publication language: English

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780192847102.003.0001

Publication open access: Not open

Publication channel open access:

Publication is parallel published (JYX): https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/80508

Abstract

In the introduction to the volume, the editors explain the overarching aim of the volume and contextualize the main themes of its chapters. Even if the notions of biopolitics and biopower have played a crucial role in philosophy, the humanities, and the social sciences over the last decades, they have been used in various and at times diverging senses, which has also produced different narratives about the history of biopolitics. The main aim of the volume is to clarify whether and to what extent the concept of biopolitics is applicable to antiquity. To answer such questions, the chapters collected in the volume address three main topics, namely the possible presence of biopolitical discourse in ancient thought, the extent to which the application of a biopolitical approach to ancient thought requires qualifications, and some influential contemporary interpretations of the relation between biopolitics and antiquity.

Keywords: political philosophy; power (societal objects); biopolitics; ancient philosophy; antiquity; modern; conceptual history

Free keywords: Arendt, Hannah; Foucault, Michel; Agamben, Giorgio; ancient philosophy; antiquity; biopolitics; biopower; modernity; nature; population

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Related projects

Ministry reporting: Yes

Reporting Year: 2022

Preliminary JUFO rating: 3