ON THE CRITICISM OF BIOPOLITICAL ECONOMY: PERSPECTIVES OF MANAGING A MAN'S BIOLOGY IN THE CONTEXT OF MODERN TRANSITION FROM BIOLOGICAL POWER TO BIOPOLITICS AND THE CRISIS OF MEDICINE

Abstract

The article has a dual goal, firstly, to reveal the essence of the crisis of modern biopower form and especially medicine as one of its main conductors, to show its determinacy by wide restructuring processes within the modern socio-economic system of global capitalism; secondly, to outline the prospects of the tendency towards more subjective interaction of a human with his biology, conscious management of it within transition to biopolitics. The crisis of medicine is determined by the crisis processes of the capitalism socio-economic system as a whole, a gradual movement towards dominance of “horizontal” relations, devoid of rigid hierarchies and implying the prevalence of interactive network structures. The crisis is closely connected with the inner progress of medicine expressed in the development of new therapies and the transition to preventive and personalized forms of work. Despite various opportunities, this potential cannot be fully realized in the current market conditions. The transformation of biopower into biopolitics is a complex long-term process, and so far only the «germs» of this trend are seen. However, even now there is a noticeable positive growth in people’s consciousness in the biological aspects of their life, the focus of medicine not only on the treatment of diseases but also on maintaining health, regulating its various parameters.