The Politics Of Life Itself: Biomedicine, Power, And Subjectivity In The Twenty-first Century

摘要

From tattoos to organ transplants, cosmetic surgery to circumcision, obsessive dieting to exercise, the practice of manipulating bodies is increasingly widespread. But have we passed into a new phase of manipulation evidenced by the prevalent use of medicine to adjust our moods, enhance sports performance, slow ageing or alter fetuses? Nikolas Rose certainly thinks so. In The Politics of Life Itself, the author argues that a threshold has been crossed into a world of 'biological citizenship' in which humans view themselves at the molecular level, medicine is based on customization, and biology poses fewer and fewer limits on life. For Rose, however, this is not always a bad thing.