Final answer:
Biopolitics is a concept introduced by Michel Foucault that refers to the strategies of population management and control by state powers, particularly through categorization and surveillance. Necropolitics, an extension of biopolitics, addresses governments' power over life and death decisions for certain groups. These concepts are part of the discourse on how authority influences and regulates the lives of individuals in society.
Step-by-step explanation:
The term biopolitics refers to the strategies and mechanisms through which human life and population groups are managed and controlled by authorities, particularly the state. The French philosopher Michel Foucault conceptualized this form of power, which includes the ways in which populations are divided and categorized, with a focus on control through surveillance, categorization based on race, religion, or citizenship, and other means of marginalizing certain groups to enhance the power of the state. An example of biopolitics can be seen in government control of immigrants, notably undocumented migrants. Furthermore, Foucault describes biopower as a diffuse form of social control, which extends to regular practices of life such as birth, death, sexuality, wellness, and leisure, influencing how individuals are regulated in society.
There are concepts like necropolitics, introduced by Cameroonian philosopher Joseph-Achille Mbembe, which extend upon Foucault's ideas, examining the power of the state over the valuation of life and death decisions of various population groups. Moreover, the context of necropolitics evaluates who in society is considered disposable and how these decisions impact the lives and deaths of individuals within those marginalized groups. It's notable that bioethics differs from biopolitics as it specifically deals with the ethical implications concerning advances in biology, medicine, and technology. Keywords such as biopower, biosocialism, and biodefense relate to the broader discourse on how life is managed and controlled in the political and social realms.