Free Modern State Racism Analysis Essay Sample
Through the series of Lectures that Michael Foucault had in College de France, Foucault continued to direct his writing on power and resistance in the society as well as emergence of state racism in the west. In his writing, Foucault brings the audience the analysis of the roots of modern states as perpetrators of racism. Here, the word racism has different meaning in that; race is regarded as a biological notion. To Foucault, a race refers to "...two groups which although they coexist, have not become mixed because of the dissymmetries, differences, and barriers created by privileges, customs, rights, the distribution of wealth, or the way in which power is exercised". As a result, Foucault point the modern state as racist where biopower is used to regulate and manage the diversities in the society while it seem that the it is supposedly caring for its citizenry.
In his work, Foucault bring forth the argument that modern states are employing a different fashion of government where at the center of bio politics , lies a scheme of regulating the humans population through the use of political power on all elements of human life. He further argues that, modern societies are in constant internal war with bodies that are regarded by others as being 'inferior species'. This arguably right considering that a number of modern states have been faulted for not taking care part of its citizenry. This often takes place in a number of modern states even when healthcare facilities among other facilities are present and suppose to address the needs of the whole society.
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Foucault contends that politics is transformed into bio politics when natural life gets included in mechanisms of state power where territorial state turns a 'state of population', and the nation's biological life becomes a problem of sovereign power. This statement indeed has a solid basis as it clearly manifested through the use of technologies that are aimed at promoting wealth, health and longevity in the society. However, the society becomes a subject in the hand of the government where they can easily be manipulated which is a form of racism.
According to Foucault, it seems that the modern states cannot thrive at all without any kind of racism, 'the break between what must live and what must die'. In this case, the state uses racism as a tool to promote conservatism within the society by allowing for normalization of it mass. As can be seen of this argument, I agree with Foucault seeing the present society is full of state efforts in gathering of demography as well as statistics in order to direct and put into control man's aspect of life such as birth and death.
Through his work, Foucault argues to the ready that modern states have the power "to make die and to let live" it being as total state where biopower is used to exercise the state's power. While this may seem unclear, a careful look at states use of biopower indicates the fact that, the power of biopower states is that over life. Could this be why such modern states execute people while offering solitary seclusion to some? From Foucault argument, our mind rests on the notion that racism of modern state rests on the ability of it to bring death to the society while at the same time put a claim to be guarding and nurturing it. This statement as brought by Foucault is indeed noticeable in the society where we see the society alienating a particular group of people by carrying out homicides; a form of threat from the sovereign state
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Order nowFoucault asserts that with racism, modern states carry out war, a war of people where the threat and invaders are wiped by the nation. Here we can see that war has been made a permanent feature of the modern society. To coincide with Foucault's reasoning, it can be noted that many modern states employ war as a means of wiping resistance and at the same time imparting terror and killing the threats in attempt of protecting the society. With modern states using their varied forms of biopower, we can see that surely see state racism in action.