Necropolitics (or thanatopolitics) is a concept primarily articulated by the philosopher Achille Mbembe in his influential essay "Necropolitics." This framework builds on Michel Foucault's ideas of biopolitics, which focus on the governance of life, by examining how power can also be exerted through the administration of death and the management of life through the looming threat of death. Here are some key drivers of necropolitics:
1. **State Sovereignty and Control**:
- The assertion of state sovereignty often involves the power to decide who lives and who dies. This control is a fundamental aspect of necropolitics, where the state enforces its authority through the regulation and control of life and death.
2. **War and Conflict**:
- In contexts of war and conflict, necropolitics becomes particularly evident. The state or other powerful actors use violence, warfare, and strategies of terror to exert control over populations, often justifying such actions as necessary for security or survival.
3. **Colonialism and Imperialism**:
- Necropolitics has historical roots in colonialism, where colonial powers exercised control over colonized populations through violence, exploitation, and the imposition of death. This form of governance aimed at subjugating and dehumanizing colonized people, treating them as expendable.
4. **Racial and Ethnic Oppression**:
- Necropolitics is often driven by racial and ethnic hierarchies. Policies and practices that disproportionately expose certain racial or ethnic groups to violence, marginalization, and death are manifestations of necropolitical power. Examples include systemic racism, genocides, and ethnic cleansing.
5. **Capitalism and Economic Exploitation**:
- Economic systems, especially in their most exploitative forms, can drive necropolitics by creating conditions where certain populations are subjected to extreme precarity and disposability. This is evident in labor exploitation, environmental degradation affecting marginalized communities, and economic policies that prioritize profit over human life.
6. **Technologies of Surveillance and Control**:
- Modern technologies enhance the capacity for necropolitical control through surveillance, data collection, and the ability to monitor and manage populations. This can involve the use of drones, biometric tracking, and other technologies that facilitate the exertion of power over life and death.
7. **Legal and Political Structures**:
- Legal frameworks and political structures that institutionalize inequality and violence contribute to necropolitics. Laws that sanction extrajudicial killings, indefinite detention, and state-sanctioned violence against dissenters or marginalized groups are tools of necropolitical governance.
8. **Cultural and Ideological Justifications**:
- Necropolitics is often justified through cultural and ideological narratives that dehumanize certain groups or present violence and death as necessary for the greater good. This can include nationalist rhetoric, religious extremism, or other ideologies that legitimize the use of death as a means of control.
In essence, necropolitics is driven by the desire to exert power and control over populations through the strategic use of death and violence. It reflects a mode of governance where the ability to inflict death becomes a central mechanism of power, deeply intertwined with historical, social, economic, and political forces.
