Biopolitical Disaster

This edited volume draws on the work of theorists who have used biopower as a frame of reference for their analyses in order to examine the ruinous consequences that often result from the (de)regulation of subjects through technologies of power. The volume assesses four broad biopolitical problematics.

The first section, "The Crisis Economy," focuses on the inherent production of disaster and the crisis tendency of capitalism. In other words, the volume will begin with the political economy of disaster. The second section, "Governmentalities of Disaster," expands upon the first section and addresses material and discursive questions of governance, the role of the state, as well as questions of democracy and rationality. Third, the volume considers how and where the (de)valuation of life itself takes shape within the theme of "(Post)Colonial Geopolitics," and focuses on the corporeal effects of biopolitical disaster. It interrogates how the problematic of colonialism persistently writes itself upon the social location and lived-experience of select communities. The final thematic section, "Eco-Aesthetic Practices of Resistance," fuses concepts from affect theory, feminist studies, post-positivism, and contemporary political theory to identify sites and practices of political resistance to biopower.

Biopolitical Disaster is aimed at postgraduates, researchers, and academic scholars working in the following fields: Environmental Justice; Political ecology; Geopolitics; Foucauldian analysis; Feminist critique; Intersectionality; Environmental politics; Science and Technology in Society studies; Disaster studies; Political theory; Indigenous studies; Aesthetics and resistance.

Sarah Marie Wiebe, SSHRC Post-Doctoral Fellow/Assistant Teaching Professor, Department of Political Science and Institute for Studies and Innovation in Community University Engagement, University of Victoria, Canada

Jennifer L. Lawrence, Post-Doctoral Research Associate at The Global Forum on Urban & Regional Resilience, Virginia Tech, USA