Psychopolitics and power in contemporary political thought

ABSTRACT

In this paper I compare the psychopolitical account given by Byung-Chul Han and Stiegler with the Foucauldian biopolitical framework. Taking into account Deleuze’s and Baudrillard’s remarks on the new society, Stiegler proposes to use the term psycho-power to complete Foucault’s model. Byung-Chul Han has suggested that we are in a psychopolitical age that goes far beyond the biopolitical account. This analysis is linked to Bauman’s work on liquid modernity, and to a reconceptualization of power.

KEYWORDS:

• biopolitics
• Foucault
• Han
• positivity
• Stiegler

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No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Manuel Cruz Ortiz De Landázuri

Manuel Cruz Ortiz de Landázuri (Pamplona, 1986) is an assistant professor of the Department of Philosophy of the University of Navarra. He wrote his PhD on the concept of pleasure in Aristotle and has been working since then on issues in ethical and political thought, such as the relationship of power and knowledge in Plato, and the problems of power in a globalized society.