Bio-politics: A comparison of Foucault and Agamben

The techniques governing humankind become gradually complicated as they become civilized. Towards numerous problems concerning the borders of politics and governing, the concept of "bio-politics", which has started to play one of the central roles in political philosophy, is used in various meanings. This study forms a comparative and theoretical frame for "bio-politics" and discusses its position in political area over the effects of bio-political practices on "life and death" by researching what the concept in question is. Accordingly, the study aims to establish ideational transmissions among different intellectual frameworks instead of approaching in a consuming attitude towards "bio-politics" often mentioned recently and tries to eliminate its ambiguity. For this purpose, this study scrutinizes "bio-politics" with its comprehensive structure articulated to highly-charged current issues by concentrating on two central names who light the fuse of this dynamism: Michel Foucault and Giorgio Agamben. In this context, firstly it explains a theoretical description of Foucault's bio-politics by using especially "power", "subject", "body", "population" and "governmentality". Subsequently, it draws a historical root with Agamben's terms "bare life", "homo sacer", "concentration camp" and "state of exception". Thereafter, it mentions claims that events creating reactions in modern society can be explained with "bio-politics". Within this framework, it compares these philosophers through the transformation of "right over life and death". In this regard, the principal purpose of this study is to try to position "bio-politics" in political area by analysing different thinking efforts around it and examining the changing borders between "life and death".