Kurs WinSe24/25 by Dr. Michelle Pfeifer: Biopolitical Media: Race, Sexuality, and the Politics of Reproduction
Biopolitics describes modern states’ investments in the health and vitality of the population by means of population metrics, statistics, death and birth rates, quarantine, or public health policies. Taking aim at sexuality and reproduction biopolitics also creates racialized distinctions and hierarchies of human life. In this seminar we will discuss the strategies, technologies, and media through which biopolitics communicates by focusing on a range of case studies. These include HIV/AIDS, the Covid-19 pandemic, abortion bans, Trans and gender panics, migration and border policies, policing, and reproductive racisms. Our course readings will include readings from a range of fields including Media Studies, Science and Technology Studies, Geography, Anthropology, Political Science, Media Studies, Ethnic Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies as well as work by artists, novelists, and essayists. Taking a capacious understanding of both biopolitics and media we depart from “classical” analyses of biopolitics and focus on Trans*, feminist, anti-racist, queer of color, post-colonial, disability studies, and Marxist analyses and cover a range of geographical regions.
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