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Biopolitics. The Political Potential of the Life Sciencesкнига
- Автор: Oleskin Alexander V.
- Год издания: 2012
- Издательство: Nova Science Publishers
- Местоположение издательства: Hauppauge, NY, United States
- Объём: 255 страниц
- ISBN: 978-1-62081-088-0(hardcover)
- Аннотация: In the 21st century, the life sciences exert a considerable influence on the humanities and social sciences. People around the world pin their hopes on biology (which can help overcome the ecological crisis and produce new kinds of cheap food) and are concerned about possible risks associated with its developments (e. g., about the possible creation of genetic mutants and cloned humans). Biological knowledge is being increasingly applied to issues related to ethics, linguistics, esthetics, history, and politics. Biology is currently making a significant contribution to the development of new guidelines concerning the economic and cultural progress of humankind. This guidebook concentrates on an important part of the biological mission in the present-day world: on its social and political implications. Taken together, they are referred to as biopolitics in the book. Biopolitics is exemplified by research in genetic engineering that raises political issues such as whether all substances obtained from GM organisms must be labeled and which political regulations are to be adopted with respect to genetic diagnostics and therapy as well as to measures aimed at improving the genome of healthy people (genetic enhancement). Another important example is provided by human brain neuromediators that are on the agenda of present-day neurology. Neuromediators perform major functions in various animals, plants, and even microbial cells. Research on their role required the collaboration of specialists in different subfields of biology. The knowledge they have obtained is a prerequisite for developing neurochemical tools for manipulating human behavior, in particular in order to attain political goals. The political system including the state apparatus has been actively regulating the biology of its subjects/citizens over the course of several centuries. Measures have been taken to register and control their birth rate, morbidity, work capacity, and mortality. These state policies also form part of biopolitics, as emphasized by the prominent 20th century scholar Michel Foucault and his followers. Recent achievements in the field of genetic, neuro-, and behavioral technologies are expected to provide the political elite with novel tools for regulating the biology of the population to the point of assuming total control over human reproduction, the population’s gene pool (by compiling genetic records for every citizen), and each citizen’s brain (the prospective “Neurosociality” system). These could surpass the innovations described in the utopian novels by Huxley, Orwell, and other writers of the 20th century (see: Schreiber, 2011). Hence the term biopolitics is construed by the author as embracing various aspects of interactions between biology and politics that represent the main subject of this book. Biopolitics is founded on the “soft naturalism” principle implying that the human being is a multilevel entity. The biological and the cultural elements coexist, compete, and cooperate inside him. Without equating a human being with an animal, biopolitics, nonetheless, demonstrates to people how important the influence of evolutionary factors on their behavior can actually be. Information concerning biological influences on human behavior can help us explain certain human actions driven by a variety of subconscious or unconscious factors and, still more important, resist these influences if they are incompatible with our social norms, moral rules, or cultural traditions. Biopolitics is envisaged as a result of interactions between (i) the life sciences such as ethology, theory of evolution, sociobiology (and, more recently, evolutionary psychology), genetics, neurology, and ecology and (ii) theories in political science based on behavioralism, organicism, and/or synergetics. The progress in biopolitics has also been promoted by recent political phenomena including ethnic conflicts, international terrorism (including bio-terrorism), and the formation of environment-centered and bioethical political movements. A number of international organizations and centers (e.g., the Association for Politics and the Life Sciences, the Biopolitics International Organization, and the Gruter Institute for Law and Behavioral Research) deal with biopolitics or at least some of its subfields. The book is intended for a variety of disciplines including biologists, philosophers, sociologists, political scientists, psychologists, lawyers, doctors, politicians. As well as other groups of people who are interested in biology and its implications for modern humankind or use biological knowledge in their professional activities. It can also be considered a guidebook for students of colleges and universities that major in the life sciences, the social sciences (particularly political science), and the humanities.
- Добавил в систему: Олескин Александр Владимирович