Michel Foucault’s concept of “biopolitics” in the context of the events of the COVID-19 pandemic: theoretical and legal aspects

Abstract

Introduction. In the context of the recent COVID-19 pandemic events, Michel Foucault’s concept of “biopolitics” has received renewed attention. Its main idea is the desire to control not only and not so much the social, but also the biological side of human life – by a legitimate authority. The aim of the article is to try to update the Foucault concept from the perspective of the general theory and philosophy of law. The article raises the question of how the actions of power institutions in the context of implementation of “biopolitics” correlate to the theoretical and legal concept of “the limits of legal regulation”. Methods. In addition to general scientific methods of cognition (comparison, analogy, analysis, synthesis, abstraction; collectively – general logical methods), this study applies the following special methods of legal sciences: dogmatic method (formal-legal), interpretation and problem-theoretical reconstruction. Results. The article concludes that in the process of implementation of ”biopolitical” strategies the theoretical and legal construction of “the limits of legal regulation” undergoes significant changes. From this perspective, the actions of governing bodies do not exceed the permissible limits of legal regulation. Michel Foucault’s concept of ‘biopolitics’ allows analysing legal phenomena without distancing from the facts of social reality.