The concept of biopower in Foucault: bibliographic notes

Abstract

This article aims to present the concept of biopower in Foucault. In short, biopower is a way of governing life, in force since the 17th century, which seeks to optimize a state of life in the population to create economically active bodies. The text discusses the Foucaultian biopower with other authors who treat the same theme and scale it in our day. The work is justified by the importance of Foucault, the relevance of the concept and the applicability of the theme to understand everyday situations, such as public health policies and gender control. The text is based on a bibliographic study. The manuscript concludes that biopower is a current concept, which helps to understand, for example, the interventions of political power in the health of the population.