Biopower in the age of the pandemic: The politics of COVID-19 in Denmark

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Abstract

The exceptional forms of state power mobilized under COVID-19 have attracted scholarly attraction and created important insights on the pandemic politics. However, it seems that the current understanding tends to regard the states’ responses as a zero-sum game between two powers only, a game in which liberal rule in varying degrees is traded for raw sovereign power. Inspired by the notion of biopower, this article aims to provide a more nuanced account of the various powers invoked to handle the pandemic. Based on the case of Denmark, it is argued that three forms of power were mobilized: sovereignty, discipline and security mechanisms. Yet, indirect security mechanisms informed by epidemiological knowledge and modelling have played a far more comprehensive role than the two other power mechanisms. In a complex interaction with epidemiological expertize, liberal governmentalities limited the mobilization of sovereignty and discipline and, instead, tended to endorse indirect security mechanisms.
Original languageEnglish
JournalEuropean Societies
Volume24
Issue number5
Pages (from-to)657-681
Number of pages25
ISSN1461-6696
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords

  • Biopolitics
  • State power
  • Pandemics
  • Epidemiological regulations
  • Foucault

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