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Biopolitics and Biopower - Interdisciplinary Encounters in Eastern Europe and Eurasia at Large
Study Course Description
Course Description Statuss:Approved
Course Description Version:6.00
Study Course Accepted:02.02.2024 12:29:31
| Study Course Information | |||||||||
| Course Code: | PZK_172 | LQF level: | Level 7 | ||||||
| Credit Points: | 3.00 | ECTS: | 4.50 | ||||||
| Branch of Science: | Politics | Target Audience: | Political Science | ||||||
| Study Course Supervisor | |||||||||
| Course Supervisor: | Andrey Makarychev | ||||||||
| Study Course Implementer | |||||||||
| Structural Unit: | Faculty of Social Sciences | ||||||||
| The Head of Structural Unit: | |||||||||
| Contacts: | Dzirciema street 16, Rīga, szf rsu[pnkts]lv | ||||||||
| Study Course Planning | |||||||||
| Full-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 8 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 16 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 6 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 12 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 28 | ||||||||
| Part-Time - Semester No.1 | |||||||||
| Lectures (count) | 6 | Lecture Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Lectures | 12 | ||||
| Classes (count) | 4 | Class Length (academic hours) | 2 | Total Contact Hours of Classes | 8 | ||||
| Total Contact Hours | 20 | ||||||||
| Study course description | |||||||||
| Preliminary Knowledge: | Overall knowledge of the methods and theories in the field of International Relations, as well as general knowledge of the basics of political science. | ||||||||
| Objective: | To provide knowledge on the crucial ideas of biopolitics as a conceptual approach to study Russia and Eurasia; to contribute to the analytical skillset of the students by examining specific policies and case studies related to biopolitical practices in post-Soviet / post-communist countries. | ||||||||
| Topic Layout (Full-Time) | |||||||||
| No. | Topic | Type of Implementation | Number | Venue | |||||
| 1 | Introduction to Biopolitics: Structure of the Course, Vocabulary, and Main Approaches | Lectures | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 2 | Biopolitics and Political Philosophy: How Foucault and Agamben Can Be Used for Studying the Post-Soviet / Post-Socialist World? | Lectures | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 3 | Biopolitics and Political Studies: Issues of Sovereignty and Governmentality (Experiences of Eastern and Central Europe) | Lectures | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 4 | Biopolitics and International Relations at Europe’s Eastern Margins: From the Liberal to a Post-Liberal Order | Lectures | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 5 | Biopower and Geopolitics: Regions and Spaces from a Biopolitical Perspective | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 6 | Biopolitics and Peace & Conflict Studies: Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 7 | Biopolitics: a Sociological Approach to Societies in Transition | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 8 | Biopower and Cultural Studies: Towards Popular Biopolitics (the Case of Russia) | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 9 | Biopolitics, Necropolitics and Memory Studies: the Ongoing Controversies over WWII | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 10 | The Post-Soviet as Post-colonial: Implications for Biopolitics and Biopower | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 11 | Biopolitics and Religious Studies: Discussing Pastoral Power in Conservative Contexts | Classes | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 12 | Biopolitics and Urban Studies (Estonia and Ukraine in the Limelight) | Classes | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 13 | Biopolitics, Medicine and Public Health: the EU and Eurasian Economic Union in a Comparative Perspective | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 14 | Biopolitics and Sports: the Case of Russia | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 15 | Methodological Class: How to Study Biopolitics? | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 16 | Team-based Presentation | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 17 | Concluding Class: Summary of Findings, Lessons Learned, Conclusions Drawn | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| Topic Layout (Part-Time) | |||||||||
| No. | Topic | Type of Implementation | Number | Venue | |||||
| 1 | Introduction to Biopolitics: Structure of the Course, Vocabulary, and Main Approaches | Lectures | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 2 | Biopolitics and Political Philosophy: How Foucault and Agamben Can Be Used for Studying the Post-Soviet / Post-Socialist World? | Lectures | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 3 | Biopolitics and Political Studies: Issues of Sovereignty and Governmentality (Experiences of Eastern and Central Europe) | Lectures | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 4 | Biopolitics and International Relations at Europe’s Eastern Margins: From the Liberal to a Post-Liberal Order | Lectures | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 5 | Biopower and Geopolitics: Regions and Spaces from a Biopolitical Perspective | Lectures | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 6 | Biopolitics and Peace & Conflict Studies: Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova | Lectures | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 7 | Biopolitics: a Sociological Approach to Societies in Transition | Lectures | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 8 | Biopower and Cultural Studies: Towards Popular Biopolitics (the Case of Russia) | Lectures | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 9 | Biopolitics, Necropolitics and Memory Studies: the Ongoing Controversies over WWII | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 10 | The Post-Soviet as Post-colonial: Implications for Biopolitics and Biopower | Lectures | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| 11 | Biopolitics and Religious Studies: Discussing Pastoral Power in Conservative Contexts | Classes | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 12 | Biopolitics and Urban Studies (Estonia and Ukraine in the Limelight) | Classes | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 13 | Biopolitics, Medicine and Public Health: the EU and Eurasian Economic Union in a Comparative Perspective | Classes | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 14 | Biopolitics and Sports: the Case of Russia | Classes | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 15 | Methodological Class: How to Study Biopolitics? | Classes | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 16 | Team-based Presentation | Classes | 0.50 | auditorium | |||||
| 17 | Concluding Class: Summary of Findings, Lessons Learned, Conclusions Drawn | Classes | 1.00 | auditorium | |||||
| Assessment | |||||||||
| Unaided Work: | The knowledge acquired in the course is tested during seminars, discussions and group presentations on specific topics. Skills are acquired and evaluated by creating a final essay on a specific topic acquired in the course, submitting an essay in e-studies. Students independently read the literature and work in a team to prepare a presentation for group work and be able to answer questions and engage in a discussion on the topic presented. | ||||||||
| Assessment Criteria: | Attendance – 10% Group work presentation – 45% Final essay – 45% (1000 words maximum, single spaced, Times New Roman 12 or equivalent | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Full-Time): | Exam (Written) | ||||||||
| Final Examination (Part-Time): | Exam (Written) | ||||||||
| Learning Outcomes | |||||||||
| Knowledge: | Students understand the concepts of biopolitics and biopower and apply them in the analysis of current Eastern European socio-political processes. Explain the concepts of biopolitics and biopower in the development of Eastern Europe and Eurasia retrospectively. Students distinguish between concepts of biopolitics and biopower. | ||||||||
| Skills: | Students research the manifestations of biopolitics and biopower in Eastern Europe and Eurasia in general, critically selecting sources of information, presenting their conclusions and debating them with lecturers and course mates. Students explain the dynamics of biopolitics and biopower in an argumentative and in-depth manner, model the impact and role of biopolitics and biopower on the regions covered in the course. | ||||||||
| Competencies: | Students evaluate and substantiate the historical and modern development trends of biopolitics and biopower, as well as the impact on specific regions and future perspectives. Students model and anticipate possible future scenarios for the development of biopolitics and biopower and their impact on the future governance of Eastern European countries. | ||||||||
| Bibliography | |||||||||
| No. | Reference | ||||||||
| Required Reading | |||||||||
| 1 | Thomas Lemke. Biopolitics: An Advanced Introduction. New York and London: New York University Press, 2011 | ||||||||
| 2 | Vernon W. Cisney and Nicolae Morar. Introduction: Why Biopower? Why Now? In Biopower: Foucault and Beyond, edited by Vernon W. Cisney and Nicolae Morar. The University of Chicago Press, 2015 | ||||||||
| 3 | Claudio Minca. The Biopolitical Imperative, in The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Political Geography, First Edition. Edited by John Agnew, Virginie Mamadouh, Jo Sharp, and Anna J. Secor. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., 2015: 165-186 | ||||||||
| 4 | Chloe Taylor. Biopower. In Dianna Taylor (ed.) Michel Foucault: Key Concepts. Durham: Acumen Publishing, 2011, pp. 41-54 | ||||||||
| 5 | Richard Ek. Giorgio Agamben and the Spatialities of the Camp: An Introduction. Geografiska Annaler. Series B, Human Geography, Vol. 88, No. 4, 2006, pp. 363-386 | ||||||||
| 6 | Roberto Esposito. Postdemocracy and biopolitics. European Journal of Social Theory. 2019, Vol. 22 (3): 317-324 | ||||||||
| 7 | Hiroyuki Tosa. Anarchical Governance: Neoliberal Governmentality in Resonance with the State of Exception, International Political Sociology 3. 2009: 414-430 | ||||||||
| 8 | David Chandler and Oliver Richmond. Contesting postliberalism: governmentality or emancipation? Journal of International Relations and Development. 2015, 18, 1-24 | ||||||||
| 9 | Henry A. Giroux. Beyond the biopolitics of disposability: rethinking neoliberalism in the New Gilded Age, Social Identities. 2008, 14:5, 587-620 | ||||||||
| 10 | M.G.E. Kelly. International Biopolitics: Foucault, Globalisation and Imperialism, Theoria, June 2010 1-26 | ||||||||
| 11 | Satu Kivelä & Sami Moisio. The state as a space of health: on the geopolitics and biopolitics of health-care systems, Territory, Politics, Governance. 2017, 5:1, 28-46 | ||||||||
| 12 | Corey Johnson & Reece Jones. The biopolitics and geopolitics of border enforcement in Melilla, Territory, Politics, Governance, 2018, 6:1, 61-80 | ||||||||
| 13 | Heriberto Cairo. The Duty of the Benevolent Master: From Sovereignty to Suzerainty and the Biopolitics of Intervention. Alternatives 31, 2006, 285-311 | ||||||||
| 14 | Koloson Schlosser. The bio-politics of bodies politic: nature and intertextuality in classic US geopolitical discourse. GeoJournal 69, 2007: 199-210 | ||||||||
| 15 | Seán Brennan. Biopolitical Peacebuilding-Peace through Health, Peace Review. 2019, 31:2, 139-147 | ||||||||
| 16 | Michael Dillon and Luiz Lobo-Guerrero. Biopolitics of security in the 21st century: an introduction, Review of International Studies 2008, 34, 265–292 | ||||||||
| 17 | Brad Evans. Foucault’s Legacy: Security, War and Violence in the 21st Century, Security Dialogue 2010, Vol. 41(4): 413-433 | ||||||||
| 18 | Sasha Davis & Jessica Hayes-Conroy (2018) Invisible radiation reveals who we are as people: environmental complexity, gendered risk, and biopolitics after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Social & Cultural Geography, 19:6, 720-740 | ||||||||
| 19 | Jemina Repo, The Biopolitics of Gender. Oxford University Press, 2016 | ||||||||
| 20 | Niels Weber. Geo- and Biopolitics of Middle-earth: A German Reading of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, New Literary History 36 (2), Spring 2005: 227-246 | ||||||||
| 21 | Alister Wedderburn. Cartooning the Camp: Aesthetic Interruption and the Limits of Political Possibility. Millennium: Journal of International Studies 2019, Vol. 47 (2) 169-189 | ||||||||
| 22 | Bianca Baggiarini. Governing through Sacrifice: Memorialization, Commemoration, and Canadian Identity, in Deborah Brock (ed.) Governing the Social in Neoliberal Times. Vancouver: UBC Press, 2019, pp. 242-260 | ||||||||
| 23 | Shaira Vadasaria (2015) Necronationalism: managing race, death and the nation's skeletons, Social Identities, 21:2, 117-131 | ||||||||
| 24 | Carlos Rivera Santana (2018) Colonization, coloniality and biopower: biopolitics in Queensland, Australia, Cultural Studies, 32:2, 223-239 | ||||||||
| 25 | David Macey. Rethinking Biopolitics, Race and Power in the Wake of Foucault. Theory, Culture & Society 2009, Vol. 26 (6): 186–205 | ||||||||
| 26 | Elizaveta Gaufman. Putin’s Pastorate: Post-structuralism in Post-Soviet Russia, Alternatives: Global, Local, Political 2017, Vol. 42 (2) 74-90 | ||||||||
| 27 | Rosalind Cooper. Pastoral Power and Algorithmic Governmentality. Theory, Culture & Society 2020, Vol. 37 (1) 29–52 | ||||||||
| 28 | Timothy Ivison. Developmentality: Biopower, Planning, and the Living City. Submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Humanities and Cultural Studies: University of London, May, 2016 | ||||||||
| 29 | Martín Arboleda. The biopolitical production of the city: urban political ecology in the age of immaterial labour. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 2015, volume 33, pages 35–51 | ||||||||
| 30 | Matthew Gandy. Zones of indistinction: bio-political contestations in the urban arena. Cultural Geographies 2006, 13: 497-516 | ||||||||
| 31 | Marco Maureira et al. The epidemiological factor: A genealogy of the link between medicine and politics, International Journal of Cultural Studies 2018, Vol. 21 (5) 505–519 | ||||||||
| 32 | Carl Boggs. The Medicalized Society, Critical Sociology 2015, Vol. 41 (3) 517-535 | ||||||||
| 33 | McGillivray, David. 2019. “Sport events, space and the ‘Live City’”. Cities 85: 196-202 | ||||||||
| 34 | Mwaniki, Munene. 2017. “Biological Fandom: Our Changing Relationship to Sport and the Bodies We Watch”. Communication & Sport 5 (1): 49-68 | ||||||||
| 35 | Spinney, Justin. 2016. “Fixing Mobility in the Neoliberal City: Cycling Policy and Practice in London as a Mode of Political–Economic and Biopolitical Governance”. Annals of the American Association of Geographers, 106 (2): 450-458 | ||||||||
| 36 | Gillian Rose. Situating knowledges: positionality, reflexivities and other tactics, Progress in Human Geography 21,3 (1997) pp. 305±320 | ||||||||
