On Biopolitics

An Inquiry into Nature and Language

In On Biopolitics, Marco Piasentier discusses one of the most persistent questions in biopolitical theory – the divide between nature and language – and attempts to redraw the conceptual map which has traditionally defined the permissible paths to address this question.

How do humans fit into the natural world? What are the political consequences of viewing humans as animals? On Biopolitics is the first scholarly attempt to answer these questions, bringing critical thought into dialogue with naturalism.

Effectively demonstrating that biology cannot serve as a measure of societies and that a critical theory cannot ignore the scientific worldview, Marco Piasentier explores two dominant strands of biopolitical theory that interpret nature in opposing ways. The first one reduces every notion of the natural world to a historical invention produced by mechanisms of power, thereby preventing the conceptualisation of humans as animals. The second strand turns nature into a normative principle from which to derive a politics of life itself. Piasentier suggests that it is possible to envision a different biopolitical theory, in which humans are political animals, free from any natural imperative. To this end, he introduces Darwinian naturalism into biopolitical theory, engaging with contemporary debates in the philosophy of science about biological teleology and normativity. Rather than reducing the Darwinian worldview to a historic-political invention, he challenges the anthropomorphic residues that continue to inform it and serve as grounds for normative forms of biopolitics.

On Biopolitics sets a new foundation for biopolitical theory and will become essential reading for humanities and social sciences scholars seeking a new perspective on nature, beyond any form of biologism or linguistic idealism.