The Biopolitics of Lifestyle

Foucault, Ethics and Healthy Choices

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Political Science, Politics, City Planning & Urban Development, History & Theory
Cover of the book The Biopolitics of Lifestyle by Christopher Mayes, Taylor and Francis
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Christopher Mayes ISBN: 9781317382362
Publisher: Taylor and Francis Publication: December 22, 2015
Imprint: Routledge Language: English
Author: Christopher Mayes
ISBN: 9781317382362
Publisher: Taylor and Francis
Publication: December 22, 2015
Imprint: Routledge
Language: English

A growing sense of urgency over obesity at the national and international level has led to a proliferation of medical and non-medical interventions into the daily lives of individuals and populations. This work focuses on the biopolitical use of lifestyle to govern individual choice and secure population health from the threat of obesity. The characterization of obesity as a threat to society caused by the cumulative effect of individual lifestyles has led to the politicization of daily choices, habits and practices as potential threats. This book critically examines these unquestioned assumptions about obesity and lifestyle, and their relation to wider debates surrounding neoliberal governmentality, biopolitical regulation of populations, discipline of bodies, and the possibility of community resistance.

The rationale for this book follows Michel Foucault’s approach of problematization, addressing the way lifestyle is problematized as a biopolitical domain in neoliberal societies. Mayes argues that in response to the threat of obesity, lifestyle has emerged as a network of disparate knowledges, relations and practices through which individuals are governed toward the security of the population’s health. Although a central focus is government health campaigns, this volume demonstrates that the network of lifestyle emanates from a variety of overlapping domains and disciplines, including public health, clinical medicine, media, entertainment, school programs, advertising, sociology and ethics.

This book offers a timely critique of the continued interventions into the lives of individuals and communities by government agencies, private industries, medical and non-medical experts in the name of health and population security and will be of interests to students and scholars of critical international relations theory, health and bioethics and governmentality studies.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

A growing sense of urgency over obesity at the national and international level has led to a proliferation of medical and non-medical interventions into the daily lives of individuals and populations. This work focuses on the biopolitical use of lifestyle to govern individual choice and secure population health from the threat of obesity. The characterization of obesity as a threat to society caused by the cumulative effect of individual lifestyles has led to the politicization of daily choices, habits and practices as potential threats. This book critically examines these unquestioned assumptions about obesity and lifestyle, and their relation to wider debates surrounding neoliberal governmentality, biopolitical regulation of populations, discipline of bodies, and the possibility of community resistance.

The rationale for this book follows Michel Foucault’s approach of problematization, addressing the way lifestyle is problematized as a biopolitical domain in neoliberal societies. Mayes argues that in response to the threat of obesity, lifestyle has emerged as a network of disparate knowledges, relations and practices through which individuals are governed toward the security of the population’s health. Although a central focus is government health campaigns, this volume demonstrates that the network of lifestyle emanates from a variety of overlapping domains and disciplines, including public health, clinical medicine, media, entertainment, school programs, advertising, sociology and ethics.

This book offers a timely critique of the continued interventions into the lives of individuals and communities by government agencies, private industries, medical and non-medical experts in the name of health and population security and will be of interests to students and scholars of critical international relations theory, health and bioethics and governmentality studies.

More books from Taylor and Francis

Cover of the book International Politics and National Political Regimes by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book Equality Struggles by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book Archaic Eretria by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book Mind, Brain, and Language by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book Sustainable Consumption and the Good Life by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book Social Amnesia by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book India and South Asia: Economic Developments in the Age of Globalization by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book Commitment by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book Philosophic Classics: From Plato to Derrida by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book Politics, Power and Policy Making: Case of Health Care Reform in the 1990s by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book The Use of History by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book Perspectives on Gratitude by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book Geometry as Objective Science in Elementary School Classrooms by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book Making the Right Decisions by Christopher Mayes
Cover of the book The Architecture of Edwin Maxwell Fry and Jane Drew by Christopher Mayes
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy