The COVID-19 pandemic has upended daily life for the majority of people around the world and brought about dramatic changes in our living habits and the ways we can conduct ourselves in our day to day lives. Despite the prolonged and devastating nature of this pandemic, the rise in vaccinations and increase in effective treatments for the disease have finally allowed us to look to the future with some optimism. However, as we start to see the light at the end of the tunnel, it is important to now understand the different ways in which the pandemic can be explained and analyzed through a more theoretical and scholarly lens. Much has been written about the pandemic, but the majority of COVID-19 written material has consisted mostly of news sources simply offering information about cases, new breakthroughs in research, and official government updates.
Michel Foucault
Analyzing the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic through a philosophical lens can provide insight and discovery into the new ways of looking at this momentous year. In particular, the work of famous French philosopher, Michel Foucault, can provide theories and explanations towards understanding the effect of things such as mass vaccination and government intervention within a population. Foucault (1926-1984) dedicated his life to understanding the ways in which humanities struggle with power, control, and knowledge. More specifically, Foucault focused on the role that societal institutions played in influencing and controlling society. His study of historical events and ancient institutions revealed new ways of understanding power and force.
Biopolitics
Taking a Foucauldian lens to the COVID-19 pandemic requires using Foucault’s theories and concepts to apply them to our modern era. Foucault’s famous concept of ‘biopolitics’ from his book, The History of Sexuality, is the first concept that can be applied to this pandemic. Foucault defined biopolitics in his book as a way "to ensure, sustain, and multiply life, to put this life in order." However, more simply put, biopolitics is a way of understanding how society exerts control and dominance over the creation and maintenance of human life. Foucault explained that this was a new type of power, created in the nineteenth century by the rise in modern medicine and technology, which allowed governments and societal institutions to view society as one grand body, and allowed it to enforce regulations and mandates for the whole of the state body or population. There are many examples of biopolitics in society, but common examples include ways of regulating human life and the importance of sustaining it. Anti-abortion laws, health mandates, eugenics, and scientific racism are all examples of this concept, as they explain how society had progressed enough to control the reproduction of a population. However, with that ability to control reproduction came a need and requirement: society had to ensure that the population stayed healthy and continued to grow, and to do this, they provided institutions with the power to do so.
Biopolitics within the coronavirus pandemic appear in a variety of ways. Mask mandates and distancing regulations at a minimum of six feet apart are just two examples of Foucault’s theories at work. Both of these requirements have been enforced by the government as a way to prolong human life and ensure the safety of the population by preventing the state body from becoming ill and dying in huge numbers. Vaccination represents a specific form of biopolitics, in which a government can actively gain control over their population through guaranteeing the ability of their population to survive. Vaccines represent an intense form of institutional power, as the government gains power to decide who lives or dies, as they make choices about groups within society that must be vaccinated first. Within the United States we have witnessed vaccinations to the weakest members of society, the elderly and those with chronic health conditions, as these individuals are at the greatest risk of dying. Essential workers were also prioritized within the vaccine rollout, due to their need to care of others and their proximity to the disease.
However, vaccine rollout has also been harshly criticized for not being equitable enough. The COVID-19 vaccine offers the promise of safety and the ability to remain alive, but other factors such as racism and poverty play a role in who can access the vaccine. Individuals who lack technological resources find it harder to make vaccination appointments, and similarly, communities of color within the United States are reported to have received less vaccinations than communities with primarily white people, a sign of systemic racism within the medical field. Foucault’s concept of biopolitics allows us to understand that unfair, racist distributions of the vaccine rollout are quite literally leading to the deaths of people of color at the hands of the government. Public health experts have declared that vaccine disparity results from struggles to make appointments and lack of resources and education provided. Here, we witness biopolitics in its worst form, in which a state has the power to provide for its united body, but fails due to internal and systemic issues.
Governmentality
The work of COVID-19 contact tracers and public health officials to track the origins of outbreaks can also be better understood through Foucault’s theory of ‘Governmentality.’ Foucault’s theory of governmentality can be defined as the unity of two forces: government and rationality. Foucault wrote that this combination of the two terms is what allows governments to guide and shape the behaviour of their citizens; through utilizing his concept of governmentality, Foucault hoped to gain insight into the ways in which governing occurs and how it is understood in society. Foucault viewed his concept of governmentality and government in a broad sense, analyzing smaller subsections of society as a government as well.
Thanks to Foucault’s broad definition of this concept, we can understand governmentality as a term that applies to other organizations and systems of power within society. The scientific and medical community, such as the CDC or WHO can be defined as actors that greatly influence human conduct and behaviour since the start of the pandemic. Individuals learned from the CDC about the benefits of mask wearing and the importance of being aware of one's overall health and possible symptoms for signs of infection. The culture of awareness and protection promoted by these actors thus influenced a change in human behavior, as we as a society were forced to become more aware of the overall wellbeing of our bodies.
Analyzing the nation’s mindset early on in the pandemic versus now allows us to understand the process of governmentality and how it slowly takes hold. The rise of mask mandates proved difficult for people to understand at first, and many protested against these new measures, unwilling to sacrifice their “personal freedoms” and unwilling to believe in the scientific benefits of wearing masks. Yet now, thirteen months into the pandemic, the majority of Americans have accepted mask mandates, and while they may not personally enjoy nor support them, people understand that the mandates are now a part of daily life. Tracking the rise of the mask mandate and individuals' views on them over time allows us to understand governmentality as a whole, and how organizations in power can change societies’ conduct.
Disciplinary Power
The pandemic has forced us to restructure the everyday fabric of our lives. We have become accustomed to the routine of online school, of restaurant capacity, of hand sanitizer stations, and being unable to visit our loved ones in the hospital. Humanities' sudden change in behavior can be seen in the most minute details, but also in larger societal issues that regulate the actions and thoughts of groups of individuals. Foucault’s creation of the concept of ‘disciplinary power’ is another aspect of his philosophy that can explain phenomena resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his works, Foucault explains that disciplinary power is a newer form of power in recent history that resulted in a change from the sovereign power demonstrated by monarchies to the rise of the surveillance and a government’s ability to watch and track its people, which required technologies and human effort not available until the 18th and 19th centuries. Foucault’s primary intention with this new concept of disciplinary power was to demonstrate how discipline and control are a form of power. Foucault believed that discipline regulates the thoughts and actions of actors, therefore a government that could control its citizen’s behaviors through the ever present nature of discipline had achieved a new level of power.
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, we have witnessed governments use the concept of disciplinary power to alter their citizens’ behavior and help stop the spread of the pandemic. The normalization of masks and standing six feet apart from everyone at all times are examples of this power at work. Foucault believed that disciplinary power was a subtle force, not easily recognizable. Instead, disciplinary power permeates a society through its institutions and the power that specific institutions, such as prisons, schools, and hospitals might hold. Throughout the pandemic, we have also witnessed the power institutions hold in determining the outcome of our lives and our manner of behavior. School districts have individually decided to shut down or restart at certain points, dramatically changing children’s educational experiences. Above all, Foucault believed that this form of disciplinary power seeks to “increase the utility of the body.” Institutions have established norms and conditions that keep us safe and in turn protect the national body as a whole, allowing us to continue maintaining our population and our society. The success of disciplinary power throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is seen in our smooth adjustment to these new ways of life. When individuals no longer protest mask mandates or engage in expected social distancing practices without thought or question, we can then acknowledge the success of disciplinary power, as citizens will have become disciplined and adhere to the expected behavior promoted by institutions.
Using Foucault’s theories and philosophies alongside events and changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic is not to critique our new behavior or government actions, nor is it to pass judgement on Foucault’s own theories and his views on government and society; it is merely to provide greater insight to how and why society has changed in the way that it has, and to show the role that power and knowledge have played throughout this pandemic. Despite the success of America’s vaccine rollout and the promise of a “normal” summer, we should not forget the lessons and observations that Foucault’s teachings reveal to us, particularly in our understandings of human behavior and institutional action during a time of crisis and illness.