Thomas Lemke: Biopolitics in Empire – The immanence of capitalism in the work of Michel Hardt and Antonio Negri. (in: Prokla. Zeitschrift für kritische Sozialwissenschaft, Vol. 32. No. 4. pp. 619-629.


– abstract –

A vivid and controversial debate followed the publication of Empire by Michael Hardt and Antonio Negri. This contribution discusses the concept of biopower as it is presented in the book. While the authors modify and expand the use of the notion that was developed by Michel Foucault, they produce several systematic problems and theoretical ambivalences. As it will be shown, Hardt and Negri claim to ground their analysis in a “field of immanence”, but partly fail to do so, weakening their own political and critical perspective.

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